The sexual assault and murder of Leigh Leigh at a teenage beach party in 1989 was a watershed case for the representation of sexual assault victims.
One adolescent rite of passage where many of our key memories are formed during this time- both good and bad – is parties. For many of us, parties during our teenage years often marked the many ‘firsts’ in a young persons’ life. The first time we could drive after getting our licence. Our first kiss. The first time we experiment with cigarettes, alcohol or harder drugs. For many teens, it’s their first encounter with sex.
Unfortunately for some young women, that encounter isn’t always consensual, but instead traumatic. In those situations, we’d like to think that we would do the right thing. If we, or someone we knew, was sexually assaulted, the person responsible would be ejected and police contacted. Sadly, we know that in reality that doesn’t happen for a range of reasons. It’s cold comfort, but we hope that police will be contacted in the days following the attack, in an attempt to bring the assailant to justice.
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