Police release educational videos on sexual assault

It needs to be active, it needs to be sought and it needs to happen when both parties are in a state that they can consent.

That's the message behind a new video released by New Zealand Police in an attempt to address low rates of sexual assault reporting.

"I think that there is a lot of confusion around consent. Sexual assault is any unwanted sexual contact that you don't consent to," Dr Cathy Stephenson from Medical Sexual Assault Clinicians Aotearoa (MEDSAC) says in the video.

"You can't consent if you're intoxicated, you've been taking certain drugs, you're asleep, you're unwell, you've got, perhaps, physical or mental impairment that means you're not in a state to consent to those activities.

"Consent can also be withdrawn at any stage.

"The other situation where I think people don't understand very often is you can have a sexual activity with someone on one occasion.  It doesn't mean you want it to happen again with that person. They can't assume automatic consent because it's happened to them before."

The video is part of a series explaining how to report sexual assault to police. The short videos outline the process from there, including the first interview, emotional support, the medical check-up and formal interview.

Police say they hope to debunk myths that are preventing people from reporting cases of sexual assault.

"We know that sexual assault is grossly underreported for a variety of reasons, including not knowing what happens after you report an assault or fear of the process," Detective Superintendent Tim Anderson, National Crime Manager says.

Rape Prevention Education says the videos will be a much-needed resource for anyone wanting to report sexual assault or violence to police.

However, executive director Debbi Tohill, noticed one point which wasn't mentioned at all - that those under 16 can't consent.

"I applaud the Police for taking the initiative to develop these videos and would like to be reassured that women and men presenting to the police will get the standard of care demonstrated in the videos. 

"It is so important the police are fully trained dealing with victims and come from a place of believing the person when they are being interviewed. There are times when the police may not be able to go ahead with a prosecution and reasons for this need to be carefully and sensitively explained to the victim."

She believed other videos dealing with related topics would also be helpful, including the difference between rape and sexual violation, laws around grooming and digital communication.

It's a decade since an inquiry found some police officers had behaved poorly in handling sexual assault complaints.

The 2007 Commission of Inquiry into police conduct, led by Dame Margaret Bazley, reviewed 313 complaints of sexual assault against 222 police officers between 1979 and 2005.

It found while such cases are relatively rare, there had been times where officers behaved disgracefully by exploiting vulnerable people and protecting alleged offenders.

Earlier this year, Police released a report showing all 47 recommendations had been put in place.

"I want people to absolutely trust us. Trust that we will do the best by them, if people don't have a good experience let us know and we will do everything we can to fix that," Police Commissioner Mike Bush said at the time.

However, there is still some discontent about how some cases are handled.

Newshub.