ABSTRACT

The #MeToo movement has encouraged victim-survivors of sexual misconduct to make use of social media and mass media journalism to report incidents in ways that are contrary to established legal norms. In part, this is an acknowledgement that traditional legal processes achieve little in responding to gendered harm. However, media companies and victim-survivors have increasingly been sued by alleged perpetrators for defamation. Because Australian defamation law presumes the falsity of alleged defamatory statements, victim-survivors are often required to give evidence in defamation proceedings in an effort to displace the presumption and prove that the allegations were ‘substantially true’ as a defence. This article identifies the issues facing victim-survivors who become involved in defamation disputes arising from allegations of sexual misconduct or gendered harm. It emphasises that in this context, victim-survivors encounter the same testimonial injustice typically experienced in the criminal jurisdiction, which harms them specifically in their capacity as knowers or givers of knowledge.

摘要

#MeToo 运动鼓励性行为不端的受害者幸存者利用社交媒体和大众媒体新闻以违反既定法律规范的方式报告事件。在某种程度上，这是承认传统的法律程序在应对性别伤害方面收效甚微。然而，媒体公司和受害者幸存者越来越多地被指控的肇事者以诽谤罪起诉。由于澳大利亚的诽谤法假定所指控的诽谤陈述是虚假的，受害者幸存者通常需要在诽谤诉讼中提供证据，以努力推翻该推定并证明指控“基本真实”作为辩护。本文确定了因性行为不端或性别伤害指控而卷入诽谤纠纷的受害者幸存者所面临的问题。它强调，在这种情况下，受害幸存者遇到了刑事司法中通常遇到的同样的证词不公正，这特别损害了他们作为知识者或知识提供者的能力。