The front page of Monday's Herald Sun was dominated by a photo of Tessa Sullivan in a bikini. The caption above it read "Lord Mayor Probe Bombshell" and along the side of the image were the words "Rob, I'm so lucky to have you".
Sullivan is one of two women who have accused Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle of sexual harassment.
The bikini photo came from a group chat in which Ms Sullivan was teasing her colleagues about being stuck in Melbourne's July weather while she was on holidays. The photo was not sent privately to Doyle; he was one of five recipients of a laughing text never intended for the front page of a newspaper.
It's difficult to imagine a more damaging way to depict a woman who has made a claim of sexual harassment against a powerful man. And even more difficult to imagine the effect publishing the photo in this way could have on women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted. If public humiliation is what happens to women who ask for investigation of their claims, who would want to risk it?
Doyle has strenuously denied the accusation and it will be up to the investigation to determine their veracity but it's impossible to understand how putting a bikini shot of Sullivan on the front page has any relevance to the public understanding of the allegations.
A woman who wears a bikini can still be the victim of sexual harassment. Of course she can. Women are harassed and assaulted when they wear dresses, jeans, pyjamas, business suits and uniforms.
The two articles spread across three pages of Monday's Herald Sun detailed a series of text messages Sullivan had sent to a group of people, which included Doyle, as well as other messages between the two of them. The texts, described by the Herald Sun as a "dramatic twist in harassment scandal", were friendly, even affectionate.
In one conversation, Sullivan invited Doyle and his family to join her family on a ski trip. Another one was about a proposed trip for Team Doyle to Yering Station winery. Doyle was unable to attend and Sullivan texted him to say she was "devastated".
These things may well be true but they don't disprove the allegations.
The Herald Sun says the text messages were given to the investigation into Sullivan's claim of sexual harassment and ran pictures of the screenshots to prove their veracity. What they didn't say, but was reported in The Age, was that the messages and photos were provided to the media by public relations firm Newgate, hired by Doyle to restore his reputation after the sexual harassment accusations.
The Herald Sun also failed to mention that another woman, Melbourne City councillor Cathy Oke, has claimed Doyle sexually harassed her and that one of the incidences she cited was witnessed by former councillor Stephen Mayne.
Hardly an objective reporting of all the facts, is it?
Public relations firms have a job to do. So do journalists. But they should not ever be the same job. Newgate's role is to defend Doyle to the public and they're doing that by casting doubt on the credibility of his accusers. A photo of Sullivan in a bikini is sadly one of the most effective means of discrediting her. With that one image she becomes sexualised, trivialised and therefore untrustworthy.
Dr Anastasia Powell, research fellow at RMIT University, specialises in policy and prevention of violence against women. While there is absolutely no suggestion that Doyle has ever committed or been accused of rape, the myths she describes in her research are relevant to public perception of Tessa Sullivan.
Powell's research outlines how women's allegations of sexual violence committed against them are routinely doubted by portraying the victims as "flirty" and "sexual". Essentially, if people can be persuaded that a woman displayed any awareness of sexuality they will assume she was leading men on. The very belief that a woman is sexual is enough to discredit her claims.
These are the myths of rape culture. A sexualised woman is not reliable. A woman proudly enjoying her own sexuality is immediately suspect. Women with sexual agency incite male desire and are therefore responsible for any actions men take against them. Women lie. Sexual women are both a threat and a fair target. Tessa Sullivan, in that one image, has become all those myths.
Even if the investigation finds Doyle guilty of sexual harassment Ms Sullivan will always be remembered (and searchable) for that photo that sexualises and trivialises her.
The investigation into the claims by Sullivan and Oke needs to run its course and consider all the evidence presented, which is far wider than the selected photos and text messages released by Doyle's PR agents. Journalists have a responsibility to report on the progress of the investigation and that requires a lot more work than repurposing a press release from a vested interest. We should all expect better of journalism and more for alleged victims than this.