Four Corners: May 7

Monday’s Louise Milligan’s report “I Am That Girl” puts sexual consent on trial, as the young woman at the centre of one of Australia’s most controversial rape trials talks to Four Corners.

“The 18-year old in the story is me. Those awful things happened to me. I am that girl.”

She was a teenage virgin on her first night out in Sydney’s King Cross. He was the son of a wealthy night club owner. They met on the dance floor. Minutes later, he ushered her out into a laneway. What happened next has had devastating consequences for both of them.

“Was a sick night. Took a chick’s virginity, lol.” Text message sent by the young man

The young man had sex with the teenager, without her consent, but the court found it wasn’t rape.

“Whether or not she consented is but one matter. Whether or not the accused knew that she was not consenting is another.” Judge

The man’s acquittal, on the grounds that he didn’t know the teenager had not consented, shocked many and provoked troubling questions about how the law interprets consent in rape cases. The young woman says she’s still haunted by the ordeal.

“It got to be over for everybody else. There’s no other avenues. Everyone’s done, everyone goes home, and then it’s just me. And I’m still here…I’m still living it.”

Under the law, the young woman’s identity has been kept secret. Now she has chosen to speak to Four Corners in the hope that others will learn from her experience.

“I’ve spent far too long feeling embarrassed and ashamed.”

In a searing interview, she talks of how the incident and the years of legal action have impacted on her life.

“No-one dreams of their first time being in an alleyway with someone whose name they can’t even remember.”

This shocking account serves as a serious warning about the need to understand what consent is and the consequences of getting it wrong.

“The criminal law is a blunt and brutal method of social education…You shouldn’t have to rely on the criminal law as the key mechanism for doing that.” Barrister

One of those responsible for drafting those laws is now calling for change.

“There has to be some way to ensure that this ‘reasonable belief’ as to consent concept is a bit more foolproof.” Law professor

Monday 7th May at 8.30pm on ABC.