Australia Police Propose App To Address Alarming Sexual Assault Rates

A senior Australian police officer proposed Thursday a phone app to record sexual consent sayinmg it will increase sex-crime conviction rates.

According to New South Wales state Police Commissioner Mick Fuller, dating apps have brought couples together and the same technologies can provide clarity of sexual consent, too.

"Consent can't be implied," Fuller wrote in News Corp. newspapers. "Consent must be active and ongoing throughout a sexual encounter."

Fuller said the number of sexual attacks reported in Australia's most populous state was growing - but there was a 2% prosecution success rate only. This suggests the system was failing.

However, reactions to the consent app have been dismissive or skeptical.

Catherine Lumby, a Sydney University professor who specializes in ethics and accountability, called the notion of a consent app "naive." She said the app was a quick fix that ignored the situations surrounding sexual assaults.

According to Dr. Andrew Dyer, senior law lecturer at the University of Sydney, a consent app would do more harm than good.

"The proposal is well-intentioned (but) it would seem that the perpetrators of sexual assault might well gain more protection from this than victims," Dyer said.

Denmark launched a consent app. However, the iConsent app has had fewer than 5,000 downloads, according to mobile intelligence site Sensor Tower.

On Monday, more than 100,000 women protested across Australia - demanding justice and condemning misogyny and dangerous workplace cultures.

Australia's attorney general has denied an allegation he raped a 16-year-old 33 years ago and a former government employee said she was raped two years ago by a colleague in a minister's Parliament House office.

The New South Wales Law Reform Commission tabled proposals in November including one stating sexual consent should not be presumed merely because an individual did not physically or verbally refuse.

Fuller believes his suggestion would gain traction over time.