A report into the prevalence of sexual violence in regional Tasmanian communities has identified a culture of "normalising" assaults within families and intimate relationships, and a lack of understanding about consent.
Conducted by the Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies (TILES), the report found a need to improve the community's understanding of what sexual violence involves, and to build up trust in services in regional, tight-knit communities.
"A related theme that emerged from interviews with community members and stakeholders was that consent within sexual interactions was often poorly understood," the report summary read.
"Concerns were expressed by participants that sexual violence within families was normalised, and many young people lack the education they need to understand and exercise their rights to bodily autonomy," it added.
Women and children are "commonly the targets", of assault, the report said, and consent was "often poorly understood."
The report, commissioned by the Sexual Assault Support Service (SASS) in southern Tasmania, involved 21 stakeholders and nine community members, and made 11 recommendations to reduce barriers for people seeking support.
Access to services was affected by "extensive bureaucratic referral processes", the report said, with one stakeholder describing the referral pathway as "dysfunctional".
Inter-family violence 'of most concern'
One participant, whose identity has been kept anonymous, said there was a lack of healthy understanding around consensual relationships.
"It's not frowned upon for a 15 or 16-year-old to date someone in his mid-20s and be impregnated by him," they said.
"I mean, two of my siblings, are the children of what I would deem paedophilia … and it was completely normalised. Their families didn't care.
"I didn't realise it was weird until I grew up … it is horrific, and it's everywhere".
Another participant described only realising that something was sexual violence through seeing something on television, due to "not having the words" prior to that.
SASS chief executive Jill Maxwell said while the service understood the prevalence of sexual violence, the community's primary concern about violence within families or with intimate partners wasn't expected.
"We know that that happens, but to have the community identify that as one of the most pervasive and most concerning, was interesting to us," she said.
Ms Maxwell said with referrals to the support service experiencing "constant and significant growth", increased knowledge and access to Tasmania-specific data was vital.
"We've seen in the last five years, and that's not including the last financial year that's just finished, a 113 per cent increase in referrals," she said.
Statewide, Tasmania recently experienced a 50 per cent jump in the number of people reporting sexual assault, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.
Some 88 per cent of victim-survivors knew the offender, and 72 per cent of sexual assaults occurred in a residential location, the data revealed.
However, that's just the assaults recorded — SASS says it receives up to three times the number of reports of sexual violence as those made to police.
"So we know that people know about us now and that people are asking for support," Ms Maxwell said.
"But we can do better. I think as a community, and as a service, we can do better."
Community education 'critical'
Kathryn Fordyce, the chief executive of north and north-west sexual assault support service Laurel House, agreed that there was plenty of work to be done around community education.
"For some children and young people, they don't know that what they experienced is sexual violence," Ms Fordyce said.
"They know that something was uncomfortable or unpleasant, or made them feel distressed, but they don't necessarily know, and they don't necessarily disclose, to somebody that that was sexual violence.
"And therefore, then the pathways are kind of hard for someone to get the support they need if the particular words about sexual abuse or sexual assault haven't been used."
She said shame and stigma also continued to play a significant role in preventing someone from sharing their experience, particularly in regional communities where accessing services can feel more public.
"I think that we as a community have really failed young people in terms of having really open and honest conversations about consent, about sex, about respectful relationships, about pornography," Ms Fordyce said.
"And that means, for adults and people that are my age and older, having to step out of their comfort zone a little and talk about things that are perhaps historically taboo.
"Having sufficient resources for us, as Laurel House and other sexual violence [services] is really important, but also local services, community groups, sporting associations, schools having an understanding of what does sexual violence look like, and how to respond in a really appropriate way to a disclosure.
"We've all got a lot to learn."
Indigenous and cultural focus recommended
The TILES report made 11 recommendations to increase access to services for Tasmanians and to target barriers such as stigma and a lack of understanding preventing victim-survivors from coming forward.
They included further research on support for culturally diverse Tasmanians, as well as engagement with Indigenous stakeholders and communities.
The report also suggests community education campaigns focus on the prevalence of violence in intimate partner and family relationships, and expand first responder workshops in regional areas.
TILES also called for more education about consent and stigma and online support services for those seeking anonymous engagement.
The report will be given to the Tasmanian government and relevant services.
