The case also sparked a crowdfunding campaign by female start-up, Ovira.
The company created several billboards, the first of which was pointedly parked outside of Knox Grammar.
"You Will Not Silence Our Pain," it read.
When the company was inundated with messages of support and more troubling stories of sexual violence, they took the activation further. Ovira created four more mobile billboards which included quotes from the Judge who had sentenced the Knox Grammar student.
"Thank your lucky stars," one read.
"He's had an unhappy year," another glaringly stated.
Encouragingly the concurrent crowdfunding campaign—set up alongside the billboard activation—has also taken off.
At the time of writing, $37,000 has been donated, with $15,000 coming from Ovira itself. All of this money will go towards critical support services and advocacy groups for victims of violence.
The company's founder Alice Williams said in a statement: "While we wait and wait for the government to provide these services with the funding [victims of sexual violence] deserve, we’re taking matters into our own hands."
Foster of Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia outlines what these real changes could look like.
Namely, an increase in support for women who have suffered sexual violence, particularly First Nations women, women with disabilities and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
In addition, we need a reform the criminal justice system and in how these cases take place—less rulings like the Knox Grammar student's, more rulings that will reiterate the severity of assault of any kind against a woman, while protecting her as much as possible throughout the process.
And while we've got a long way to go, Foster is certain there is hope.
With such a significant amount of money raised from the "Thank Your Lucky Stars" campaign, and with public support, Foster assures us these changes can be achieved—so long as the support is there.
"We’re getting some strong support from people in leadership positions," she explained.
"And it can’t be understated the power of people like Grace Tame, Brittany Higgins and Chanel Contos and everyone else who has followed in their footsteps. We've never seen so many people call up and say things like, 'I saw Grace Tame and that's what happened to me,' we're seeing so many people calling up for the first time.
"Also people who've [come forward] and it could have been 20 years ago that they experienced something—but they feel like they don't have to carry that same shame. And that's because it's not their shame to hold—they've been able to see someone stand up and be really articulate about it and make that really clear."
