Innocent Until Proven Guilty

‘Innocent Until Proven Guilty’ is a deeply personal, immersive performance that examines justice, trauma, and the societal treatment of survivors. The artist, a former lawyer and sexual assault survivor, invites 12 audience members to act as a jury while dressed in her old courtroom attire, mirroring the judicial process in England & Wales. Through autobiographical dialogue, she recounts her rape at a music festival and the failure of the legal system to bring her case to trial due to insufficient evidence. This dual perspective—legal and personal—enables her to critique the judicial system's handling of sexual assault cases. Her legal background provides insight into the procedural biases that can undermine victims' credibility, while her personal experience as a survivor brings a poignant critique of how the system often fails to capture the realities of trauma.

The performance features a mock-court scene where the artist is cross-examined by the pre-recorded voice of herself (the defence lawyer), illustrating the invasive questioning that often undermines victims' credibility. This monological dialogue highlights how the weakening of the victim’s narrative transcends the courtroom, bleeding into the victim’s own perception of the trauma she suffered, ultimately diminishing it into a thin residue of shame. The audience, acting as the jury, witnesses this process, emphasizing the subjective nature of justice. At the end of the performance, the jury are asked to deliver a verdict, in real-time, on whether the defendant is innocent or guilty (witnessed by the remaining audience members). With each performance thus far having reached a guilty verdict, the artist wonders whether this could serve as a model for other sexual assault survivors failed by the Criminal Justice System to reclaim their narrative?

Beyond recounting her trauma, the piece serves as a meta-commentary on the artist's experiences with the legal system and societal attitudes towards victims of sexual violence. This self-referential approach creates a powerful dialogue between her past and present selves, highlighting the emotional and subjective aspects of trauma that the legal system often overlooks. The performance thus serves as both a personal catharsis and a public critique, challenging the audience to confront uncomfortable truths about the justice system and the complexities of victimhood, and reconsider their notions of justice, empathy, and the complexities of truth. By reliving her trauma in a public, performative setting, the artist not only seeks to reclaim her narrative but also to evoke a broader conversation about the societal treatment of survivors.

'Innocent Until Proven Guilty' can be shortened to a 10-minute version for the purposes of the Arte Laguna Prize Exhibition.