Sexual assault had been a serious issue in Australia. Recently there had been a lot of news regarding sexual assault in Australia, an example would be the news where two men have been jailed for sexually assaulting a woman in Broome. Sexual assault refers to any offence of a sexual nature committed upon another person, such as rape, sexual assault without consent, indecent assault and acts of indecency. Rape is now referred to as sexual intercourse or sexual assault in the New South Wales jurisdiction. However, some states in Australia still used the terms ‘rape’, ‘sexual intercourse without consent’ and ‘unlawful sexual penetration’ in their jurisdictions. Sexual intercourse can include several actions. It was listed and the term “sexual intercourse” was defined in section 61H of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). The Act stated that:
(1) For the purposes of this Division,
"sexual intercourse" means:
(a) sexual connection occasioned by the penetration to any extent of the genitalia (including a surgically constructed vagina) of a female person or the anus of any person by:
(i) any part of the body of another person, or
(ii) any object manipulated by another person, except where the penetration is carried out for proper medical purposes, or
(b) …show more content…
In order for the elements of sexual assault to be established, no consent was given or consent was given involuntarily or mistakenly. It would not be a sexual assault if consent is given freely or voluntarily. It is also not consent if the consent was given under threat, mistaken belief as to the identity of the person or when the victim is intoxicated. From R v Mitton, the judge stated that “Consent does not have to be in words, and it may be communicated in other ways that also applies to the absence of consent. Consent obtained after persuasion is still