Justice After Image-Based Sexual Abuse: Insights from Victim-Survivors and Stakeholders

In recent years, Australia has demonstrated a clear commitment to addressing the prevalence and impacts of image-based sexual abuse (IBSA), evidenced by targeted educational, legal and regulatory reforms, national strategies, and increased funding. Considerable attention has been directed towards developing new laws specifically criminalising IBSA. Notwithstanding these law reforms, it remains uncertain whether the criminal legal system genuinely delivers justice or reflects the interests of victim-survivors. Increasingly, feminist scholars have examined the failures of the criminal legal system in providing recourse for victim-survivors of gender-based violence, advocating for the broadening of justice pathways. For this thesis, I sought to contribute to the growing body of feminist scholarship that explores the opportunities and challenges of seeking justice for IBSA, by drawing directly from the perspectives of 19 adult victim-survivors of IBSA living in Australia and 22 stakeholders working to address and support them. Through qualitative interviews, this thesis aimed to centre the voices of victim-survivors and examine their experiences reporting and help-seeking in the pursuit of justice, and by extension, document their understandings, insights, and reflections on justice. Drawing on feminist concepts of social justice and kaleidoscopic justice, and taking a continuum-thinking based approach, this research presents four key findings. Firstly, it revealed that access to justice for IBSA is shaped by individual, interpersonal, and institutional barriers. This included factors such as social stigma and self-blame, limited awareness or knowledge of available support, concerns for safety, reputation and relationships, and distrust towards institutions. The research also found that motivators for seeking justice were shaped by strong social justice motives and the positive reactions and offerings of support from others. Secondly, this research critically engaged with social justice theories to examine victim-survivors’ experiences navigating reporting pathways. The research found that the current design and operation of these reporting pathways often contributed to restricted, limited, and inconsistent responses, leaving many without support, validation, and opportunities for experiencing meaningful action. Third, the research found that the diverse help-seeking practices among victim-survivors highlighted their resilience and agency in navigating multiple support networks that often have mixed and unpredictable outcomes. The victim-survivors’ help-seeking practices were largely shaped by emotional, relational, and practical needs that prioritised safety, privacy, and validation. Acknowledging these interests was argued as key to responding effectively to IBSA and achieving empowering outcomes for victim-survivors. Fourthly, this research demonstrates the potential for a broader conceptualisation of justice for IBSA. Insights gathered from victim-survivors revealed that their perceptions of justice are fluid, complex, and shifting at different times in their lives, and exist within and beyond the criminal legal system. The findings indicate that “justice interests” were largely predicated on recognition from family, community, and institutions and expressed through multiple justice pathways, including collective commitments to legislative, regulatory, technical responses, and educational change, affirming that victim-survivors’ understandings of justice were “kaleidoscopic”. This research calls for an expansive approach to justice, one that recognises and responds to the complex and multifaceted justice interests of victim-survivors. In this thesis, I argue that only by illuminating victim-survivors’ lived experiences of reporting and help-seeking after IBSA, can more meaningful and responsive pathways for justice be realised.