Sexual Assault Survivors Are Turning To Facebook Groups As They Don't Trust The Justice System

Warning: this article contains discussion about sexual harassment, assault and domestic abuse.

Lots of women are now part of some type of Facebook group. Often, they are based on a similarity – an interest in a hobby or a shared profession – and members can post asking for a product recommendation or some quick advice.

However, there has also been a dramatic rise in members turning to these groups for guidance on another topic: sexual harassment, domestic abuse and sexual assault.

Pippa spoke to Tyla about why she feels survivors were turning to groups like hers. She acknowledges how the taboo of discussing such topics is breaking down with Sarah Everard’s death acting as a particular event that encouraged widespread conversation.

But mainly, she says that dedicated services that address sexual violence and harassment are too stretched.

One of the avenues City Girl Network has been especially helpful in is emergency housing. Pippa says that City Girl Network has helped house over 100 domestic violence survivors within the network. While it’s an admirable feat, it leads Pippa to the conclusion that services don’t have the necessary financial means to support all the people they need to.

“For people and for survivors to try and find immediate support, they need someone to go to and often there's just been such a depletion of money going into those trained domestic violence and sexual abuse services that they look to groups like ours and similar groups in order to find the support they need," Pippa explained.

This means that while legal justice may be desirable, aspects like a solid support networks are also necessary. It’s a sentiment repeated when Tyla spoke to those who have been harassed or assaulted.

Beth* is a survivor of sexual assault, and while she hasn’t herself posted in Facebook groups about her experience, she has participated in comment sections and found comfort in seeing others post. These moments of community have been a higher priority for her than going to the justice system.

“I knew that if I chose to go down the root of reporting to the police, then it would be a long process constantly reliving the attack while I was still in initial shock," Beth says. "I couldn’t even use the word 'rape' until a year after the attack took place so to have the mental capacity to be so self-assured in events that I could withstand heavy scrutiny felt inaccessible to me at the time.”

Making the decision not to go to the police is one that hasn’t been easy for Beth. “I sometimes fall into the trap of feeling guilt in not going to the police as the common criticism is that my attacker is free to possibly repeat their crime," she said.

“Instead, Facebook groups remind me that there is a different form of support network available. I have found mental health and community support much more healing than I think I would if I was set on getting my attacker locked up. I also think the image of the police has been tarnished after Sarah Everard and therefore it’s further tarnished how much survivors are likely to trust the justice system in handling crimes around sexual violence.”

Jemima* shares in the hesitancy to go to police after an incident, as well as the appeal in searching for a different outcome to legal justice. Jemima posted to a local community Facebook group about a man who she had seen shouting transphobic abuse at a passerby and who started to approach and harass her. This led to her running away and hiding in a nearby friend’s house until she felt ready to leave.

She explains that she posted to the group to warn others in the local area about the man: “I felt hyper-vigilant in a way and posting it felt less like I was doing it for me, and more like I was doing it to kind of help other people," Jemima says.

Jemima also felt that the group provided something more immediately beneficial to herself than going to the police.

“It's helpful because it's like a Neighbourhood Watch in a way, more than anything. It kind of helps to raise awareness of what has happened," she explains. "And it's a way of finding people who have had similar experiences, or making people aware of that, which is not the same as going to the police”

“What I gained from that was kind of a sense of community more than anything, whereas I think going to the police can be very, very difficult, and the process can be quite gruelling at times from what I've heard. So I think it's different. It's a very different approach to kind of trying to find a sense of justice”.

City Girl Network’s Pippa sees first-hand how Facebook group posts can provide much-needed peer support. However, she estimates that only two thirds of posts around sexual assault and harassment make it onto the group, whereas the other third has to be dealt with privately for legal reasons.

“Discussions related to an incident which has been reported, or may be reported, cannot be discussed online or in person before a trial has taken place, doing so, even in a community social media group could have an impact on the trial.”

However, The Survivors Trust is also aware of how survivors like Beth and Jemima feel towards the justice system.

“We recognise that at the moment, the Criminal Justice System needs drastic improvements to address sexual violence and abuse," they add. "As part of our work, we liaise closely with the Ministry of Justice and the Police to try to drive changes to the Criminal Justice System. We want to see a system which ends victim-blaming and shifts the responsibility back onto the perpetrator.

“We need our courts to show us that these crimes are taken seriously and they will not be tolerated. Through these changes, we hope to see more survivors have the confidence to report crimes of sexual violence and abuse.”

*/** - some names in this piece have been changed.