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Allegations of Sexual
Abuse |
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A She was working as a housemaid in
a city hotel in early 1976, to supplement her bursary and make student life
more comfortable. The woman, now 52, was cleaning a
dingy room at 11am when a man with a knife entered and locked the door behind
him. She recalls every thud during the
rape and every cry fuelling his rage. "He threatened many times to
kill me," she says. "Half an hour finally passed and I know I will
never be so afraid again." The police were phoned and their
drill took over – a ride to the station in a squad car, interviews, a
statement, photos, and a medical examination. "I remember one policeman
made a joke that this was a scrawny little scruffy guy and I wasn't scrawny
and scruffy, how on earth did he manage to do that to me?," she says. "It was a bit light-hearted,
but I still remember it. I was basically treated very well. In hindsight, I
would have preferred a policewoman." It was her path through court that
left bitter and lingering memories. First she had to relive her
experience in slow motion while evidence was typed during the depositions
hearing. (A law change has allowed complainants to give evidence in writing
for these preliminary hearings.) "I shook so much the water
slopped over the edge of the glass. The detail required was upsetting and I
broke down in tears," she says. She felt threatened when her
address was read out in court in front of the offender. (Complainants'
addresses and occupations are no longer disclosed in open court, unless the
judge grants permission.) Three months after the sexual
attack, she relived it a third time before a Supreme Court jury of 11 men and
one woman. Again, she had to relate
excruciatingly embarrassing details to the court. Worst of all was the cross-
examination by the defence lawyer. "I still haven't forgiven the
guy's lawyer. I was asked to point out people who weren't in the
courtroom," she says. "I had to parade around the courtroom with
the knife and demonstrate how he had held it three months before." A psychologist for the defence
spoke of possible reasons for the attack. "I wondered why no-one
considered the long-term effects on me. My interests just weren't
there." It took the jury two hours to find
the defendant guilty of attempted rape. She went into such shock that she is
not completely sure what penalty he got. She believes it was three months
supervision, rather than jail. "I couldn't believe it. The
next day I was in such a mess I had to be sedated by my doctor." Three decades on, a confident,
professional woman, she is reduced to tears just recalling the struggle it
took to haul her numb body to the student health centre. "It was total
collapse." She has made a success of herself,
become a wife and mother, but lives life on the defensive. "I don't put
myself in a vulnerable position and I always obey my instincts." Even with the extra protections
for complainants now enshrined in law, the woman still feels the scales of
justice tilt towards the defendant. "There needs to be more
sensitivity towards the complainant's needs. She has to survive this." |
