Ms Hazel Behan:

For members and anyone in a position to bring meaningful change to our legislation, it is important to listen. With the greatest of respect to organisations and people working in professional capacities, I hugely admire what you are doing but you are not, I hope, in the same shoes as me and other women sat here today. You do not know. We do; ask us. We want to tell you. We want to share our stories with you so you can do better. We are not here for fun. It does not do much for me to let everyone in the world know what happened to me but it happens every single day. I want you to think. I could be you. I could be your daughter, sister, mother or friend. Based on statistics, everybody in this room knows somebody, even if they have not been made aware of it, who has been a victim of rape or gender-based violence.

Would you like for them to be treated that way? Would you like for them to be picked apart in court, their inner thoughts used against them, everything they are doing to try to better themselves following the most unthinkable crime committed against them? Would you like that for them, for somebody that you loved? I highly doubt it, so I am asking for you to consider that and really listen to other victims of crimes like that, not just me. My point is important but everybody's point is important. We all have something to say and I encourage the committee to invite other victims, survivors and therapists and listen to what they have to say.