A new law is needed to help abuse survivors speak out

Nina Cresswell faced a defamation action from a man after she named him online. She had been sexually assaulted on her way home from a nightclub as a student in 2010 and reported the crime to police, but the investigation was quickly closed. 

Years later, driven by guilt and the desire to prevent others from being harmed, she spoke out only to face a lengthy and costly legal action by her abuser. Cresswell felt she was being abused all over again. This kind of abusive lawsuit (SLAPP) are used to silence sexual abuse survivors in the UK. We highlighted this pernicious issue in a report we published last year entitled From Survivor to Defendent: how the law is being weaponised to silence the victims of sexual violence. 

Cresswell was one of the women we spoke to for the report. “I’m considered a ‘winner’,” she wrote after it was published. “I successfully defended the truth and public interest nature of speaking out to protect others. I set a legal precedent for survivors of sexual abuse. But sometimes it doesn’t feel like a victory as most survivors who are sued can’t make it that far. Public judgments are rare because most SLAPP cases settle before trial. For many, silence is the only way to survive.”

She added: “If we can’t speak about [sexual abuse] without facing legal bullying, the violence will never end. This is what the law is allowing to happen to those failed by the system who dare to speak out.

“Without a universal anti-SLAPP law, what happened to me will happen again. And next time, the target might not make it out alive.”

The UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition (co-chaired by Index) is today urging the Prime Minister Keir Starmer to address how perpetrators of sexual violence – mostly men – are using the courts to silence and re-traumatise their victims. The government would do well to look to Texas in the USA for inspiration. It is not a place normally associated with enacting progressive legislation, but the state is effectively tackling the issue of people and organisations issuing lawsuits to silence their abusers. 

“If you’re a predator you’re getting called out – that’s what we’re trying to make sure, that you’ve got nowhere to hide,” campaigner Ron Bloomingkemper told Index on Censorship, describing his long-running efforts to hold powerful religious leaders to account over allegations of sexual abuse in Pentecostal churches in Texas.

Bloomingkemper, a former member of Chi Alpha, an international Christian fellowship for university students sponsored by the Assemblies of God, says his campaign brought him into direct conflict with an organisation he once trusted. Despite the gravity of the allegations, Bloomingkemper says that attempts to raise the alarm were ignored by those in positions of authority. When Chi Alpha did respond, he says, it did so with legal force.

“Nobody wanted to speak in case they were getting sued,” Bloomingkemper said. 

Fortunately for Bloomingkemper and those he supports, Texas is home to one of the strongest anti-SLAPP laws in the USA. 

It goes like this: the defendant (ie the person who is being threatened with legal action) needs to file a motion demonstrating they are exercising their right to freedom of expression or association. The claimant (ie the person taking legal action) must present clear, specific evidence supporting each element of their claim.​​  

If the anti-SLAPP motion succeeds, courts must award costs and lawyer fees to the defendant. Anti-SLAPP laws end up discouraging SLAPPs altogether because the balance of power is essentially shifted. In his case Bloomingkemper said: “The anti-SLAPP law gave people courage to come forward.”  

Bloomingkemper’s experience highlights the importance of having robust and effective anti-SLAPP laws in place to protect the rights of survivors of abuse who would otherwise have been silenced. 

But in the UK, no such universal law exists. We at Index are urging the government to introduce one without further delay.

“It takes courage to stand up,” Bloomingkemper told Index. “There’s a lot of good people out there, but what do we have to do to make them take a stand? They’re being held down and we need to help them stand up.”

It’s the Day of Action against SLAPPs. Stand up for abuse survivors by telling Keir Starmer that it’s time for a meaningful anti-SLAPP law in the UK now.” Write to your MP and make your voice heard on social media today. For more information: https://antislapp.uk/solutions/take-action

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