The 'pretext' method: The controversial technique compelling women to call their "rapists".

Sitting alone, a phone pressed to her ear and a voice recorder poised, 21-year-old Queensland woman Elka waited for the man on the other end to answer. A man who only recently had allegedly pinned her down, laid on top of her naked, and sexually assaulted her.

“Hello,” she said when he picked up. “I just want to talk about what’s happened.”

As reported by ABC’s Lateline on Tuesday, the conversation took place at the suggestion of police, as part of an investigative technique known as a ‘pretext’ call. This involves the victim of an alleged crime attempting to elicit a confession from the suspect during a secretly recorded phone conversation.

Given physical evidence is rarely enough to establish an absence of consent, an admission like this can be can be a powerful tool for the prosecution in sexual assault cases; an area of the law in which convictions are notoriously hard to achieve (in NSW, for example, only 8.5 per cent of reports of sex offences lead to successful prosecution in 2015).

Yet some victim advocates have expressed concern that the technique may, in fact, be detrimental to the person reporting the violence, that confronting their alleged attacker can compound their trauma.

Karen Willis, Executive Officer of Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia, told Mamamia that participating in such investigative techniques will impact people differently, and thus police need to be “very careful” in the way they handle its implementation.

“I’ve spoken to some women who have felt really quite empowered by getting the person to admit over the phone what happened and knowing that’s really good evidence. For others, though, it’s proven absolutely horrible to try and pretend to have a conversation with someone who has just sexually assaulted you,” Willis said.

Elka was in the latter group. She told Lateline the conversation with the suspect left her scared, shaking.

“I understand that a confession is clear cut evidence and would be very, very helpful in a trial but at the same time, it was really sold as ‘If you don’t do this, then there’s not going to be a case here and you’ve basically wasted your time’,” she told Lateline.

Adair Donaldson, Director of Donaldson Law and ambassador for the Fullstop Foundation, told Mamamia that, sadly, that will often be the reality of sexual assault investigations.

“Rape charges are incredibly difficult to prove. So from a police perspective, they are going to use any legal means within their power to try to secure a successful conviction, and one of those may well be using a pretext phone call or their text messages,” he said.

“It’s another unfortunate part of the criminal investigation process, and something which survivors of abuse that have found the courage to come forward may have to face.”

Queensland Police told Lateline pretext calls were one of many investigative tools. And of course, a pretext confession is not always a silver bullet.

The recording has to be properly obtained and the conversation carefully worded to ensure that the accused’s legal rights (to silence, legal advice, and so on) are not breached. As Elka told Lateline, she had to “dance around the word rape and try and get him in other ways to admit there was a lack of consent or that there were objections”.

And as Willis noted, “even if you do get an admission, you have to be careful, because defence lawyers can make it seem as if it’s part of ‘a fantasy rape game’, which is just devastating for the person who has experienced violence.”

Elka’s case didn’t make to the courtroom. Despite physical evidence and a reported partial confession obtained during the pretext call, according to Lateline authorities were forced to abandon it due to “lack of evidence”.

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Neither Willis nor Donaldson are seeking to discourage those who have experienced violence from proceeding with a police investigation, nor from participating in pretext phone calls. Instead, simply to ensure they are informed and prepared.

Willis recommends that survivors engage the services of a counsellor prior with whom they can also debrief as soon as possible afterwards.

“The role of the counsellor is to help them understand how difficult it may be to hear that voice, or for what they might say. Because there have been times when the offender has said things like, ‘Yeah, I gave it to you good.’

“Most offenders will blame the victim for what’s occurred or be in complete denial. So it’s really important to talk that through and understand that the person who experienced the violence is in no way at fault.”

Ever.

To read and watch Lateline’s full report, click here.

If you are seeking support or information relating to sexual assault, help is available 24 hours a day via 1800 RESPECT. Please call or visit the website.