Petition · past parliament
Provide victims of the most severe sexual crimes anonymity throughout trial.
Closed
30 signatures
What the petition asks
Currently victims of crimes under the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 are given lifetime anonymity from the media. Despite attempts to fully provide protection during trial details of the victims name are made available to the accused; even in cases of serious sexual assault by a stranger.
This petition calls for other means of identifying victims such as pseudonym, case number or photo to be considered.
Sexual assaults are crimes of power and control, a name is a key part of personal identity so giving the accused the victim’s name adds to the assault. Much of what you do or are is linked to your name, having it makes it easy to identify, locate or contact someone.
Using a victim’s name within courts would seem to contravene Article 8 of the Human Rights Act.
Sexual assaults are crimes of power and control, a name is a key part of personal identity so giving the accused the victim’s name adds to the assault. Much of what you do or are is linked to your name, having it makes it easy to identify, locate or contact someone.
Using a victim’s name within courts would seem to contravene Article 8 of the Human Rights Act.
Timeline
| 22 Nov 2017 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 22 May 2018 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
30
Status
Closed
Opened
22 Nov 2017
Closed
22 May 2018
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.