Nina Funnell, winner of the coveted Woman of the Year trophy at this year’s B&T Women in Media Awards, has shed light on the “vicarious trauma” she experienced running one of Australia’s most important campaigns.
For the past four years, Funnell, who also claimed the Glass Ceiling Award and took out the Journalist/Producer category at the 2021 B&T WIM Awards, has worked non-stop to abolish Australia’s archaic sexual assault victim gag laws.
The #LetHerSpeak/#LetUsSpeak campaign, which she runs in partnership with Marque Lawyers, News Corp, RASARA and End Rape on Campus Australia, has managed to overturn laws in Tasmania, the Northern Territory and Victoria that prevented sexual assault survivors from publicly speaking out about their experiences using their real names.
“This is not a campaign to say the onus should be on survivors to educate us through their stories. It’s a campaign to say that every single survivor deserves control over their own story and choice as to whether or not they share it,” Funnell explained.
“The onus is on society to create better pathways to healing.
“I’m really proud of my work, but I’m not going to lie and say it was easy.”
Funnell said much of the work she has put into the campaign was pro bono, particularly in the early days when she used money from her mortgage to fund her work on the campaign.
As a freelance journalist, Funnell is paid for the articles she produces. But as all good campaigners know, the content is just the tip of the iceberg.
“All the other campaign work that goes on – lobbying governments, supporting survivors, raising legal funds, producing petitions, factsheets and submissions, liaising with other media and stakeholders, writing grant applications, resolving complaints and so on – all of that was completely unpaid for the first three years,” she told B&T.
“As a society, we need to value investigative journalism and recognise the level of specialisation running a campaign like this requires.”
Funnell, who also happens to be a Walkley Award winner, has previously served on the board of the NSW Rape Crisis Centre and been a member of the NSW Premier’s Council for Preventing Violence Against Women.
She has conducted research at a postgraduate level into online sexual violence, and worked with NRL football teams on consent education.
“I came to this campaign with an existing level of expertise,” Funnell said.
“As a freelancer, I’ve been able to specialise and dedicate myself to the stories I am interested in. The drawback is there is no job security; you are vulnerable to exploitation.
“So, to win those awards, especially Woman of the Year and the Glass Ceiling Award, feels very validating.
“It is a way for the industry to say ‘we see that work and we value it’. On a symbolic level, its actually hugely gratifying and hugely humbling.”
After giving birth to her son Theodore in February this year, Funnell decided to take a year off to write a book and process the past 10 years.
“I’ve been carrying a lot of vicarious trauma from running the campaign and reporting sexual assault for the past decade,” she said.
“Standing up against rapists and convicted paedophiles while challenging lawmakers and politicians doesn’t always go down well with their supporters.
“There was a huge amount of opposition and aggression at times. I was getting death threats at one point.”
Funnell said that in some ways, law reform has been the easy part – the hard part is changing society’s attitudes and beliefs.
She noted that the media plays a significant role in the experience of survivors and public perception of sexual violence.
“If a survivor does choose to speak out – to a massive audience or just one other person – we need to rise up and meet that person with compassion,” Funnell told B&T.
“When journalists educate themselves before they interview a survivor, they take the onus off the survivor to have to perform that societal function.
“We need to constantly reflect on power imbalances between ourselves and our sources.”
Funnell’s book, Let Her Speak, will be published through HarperCollins next year.
Featured image source: ABC
