“Everyone who has been harmed by sexual violence deserves to have justice delivered without going through more, avoidable, trauma”—Jan Logie
It has been six months since I was sexually assaulted by a stranger after a night out; and little has changed. By this, I mean that despite reporting the incident on the same day, enduring several weeks of in-depth interviews, randomly placed phone calls, and seemingly unproductive email correspondences with police and ACC, I feel no better placed to heal from my trauma than I began. The ACC sensitive claims process, for many rape and sexual violence victims forced to undertake it, involves complex and frustrating systems that disconnect survivors from any sense of justice. From conflicting sources of information, to lengthy waiting-lists and tricky application processes, sexual assault victims are forced to wade through complicated processes just to have their story listened to.
Earlier this year, RNZ published the anonymous story of a woman who had similar experiences with the police and the ACC system. Her story begins with the words,
“I sit here, despairingly, struggling to put into words the chaos that has ravaged my life after I was raped.”
The ACC sensitive claims process, for many rape and sexual violence victims forced to undertake it, involves complex and frustrating systems that disconnect survivors from any sense of justice.
The woman describes her difficult experiences with police, which were “long, drawn out, and achieved nothing”, but she posits that “the straw that broke the camel’s back was dealing with ACC”. For many rape victims, for reasons including personal trauma, fears of not being believed, and a social culture which embeds doubt in survivor’s accounts of their sexual assault, reporting the incident immediately is not always an option. However, in my own experience, I have found that it doesn’t seem to change how ACC and the justice system interact with your case. I reported my rape early and was applauded for my bravery. I had done everything right, according to the nurses, police officers, and psychologists who heard my story: I spoke up as soon as I could, I gave them every detail of my assault. I experienced it again and again so that each bureaucratic representative could write their notes and leave me waiting.
Information on how to proceed with the sensitive claims process for victims is confusing, to say the least. In the months following my own incident, I waited for clarification on what to do next that never arrived. I learned that somewhere along the line, I had received the wrong information. I was told to wait for ACC to get in touch with me, without realising that I was required to seek out an ACC-approved therapy provider to proceed with my claim. The website I was directed to is called findsupport.co.nz. It provides information on ACC and therapy and a search page for ACC-approved therapy providers. Optimistically, I decided to give matching with an available therapist a chance. I emailed every single therapy option that suited my needs. I sent forty-five emails to therapy providers in Auckland. Of these forty-five, I received thirty-three responses, and all of them either could not accept my request as their waiting lists were closed or offered waiting lists from between “two or three” and twelve months.
I am not alone in this experience. The woman who told her story anonymously through RNZ, wrote how she would need to wait months before she could see a psychiatrist; something that felt to her like “a ruse to delay the process as much as possible”. Another woman, Olivia*, who shared her story online after her alleged rapist was found ‘not guilty’ on all charges stated, “she spent months trying to access ACC counselling… but demand was so high that everyone was full”. Her only option was “a single appointment in three months’ time”.
According to Health Minister Andrew Little, Covid-19 has resulted in an increased demand for mental health services. This is partially due to “the backlog of people not seen over lockdown”. In response to the anonymous woman’s story on RNZ earlier this year, ACC acknowledged that “the claims process for survivors of sexual violence can be long and challenging and it is an area we are working to address”. When I reached out for a comment from ACC, Senior Media Advisor Louise Nolan provided the following statement:
“ACC is investing $44.9 million over four years to establish a fit-for-purpose sexual violence primary prevention system. New sensitive claims have increased by an average of 20% each year since 2014. Everyone working in the sector agrees current wait times need to improve. We’ve more than doubled the number of providers since 2014 when we had 719 providers and there are now more than 2,230 individual providers. ACC has recently sent a survey to 2,000 sensitive claims clients to get their feedback on their experience with the ISSC and the opportunities for improvement.”
Finding therapy after an incident of sexual violence is difficult enough on its own, but on top of navigating a complex system, sexual assault victims are faced with more tough choices, like whether to move forward with a police investigation and eventual trial.
“A system designed to help some of society’s most vulnerable feels devoid of compassion”, wrote one victim sharing the re-traumatising experience of seeking help after her assault.
In 2020, Canterbury University law academic Elisabeth McDonald wrote a book reporting her findings from numerous sexual assault cases within New Zealand. She found that certain myths about the legitimacy of a rape allegation negatively impacted the jury’s perception of the victim. This included things like if the victim was drinking, acting, or dressing in a way that was ‘asking for it’, or had implied consent by flirting or previously engaging in consensual acts with the accused. During Olivia’s trial, in which her attacker was found not guilty, she recalled statements during cross-examination like, “My client would say you asked for it… You lied two years ago and you’re lying today”. For survivors of sexual violence, stories like these are demoralising. “A system designed to help some of society’s most vulnerable feels devoid of compassion”, wrote one victim sharing the re-traumatising experience of seeking help after her assault.
The truth is, justice is almost entirely inaccessible for victims of sexual violence. Receiving support from ACC is a feat in itself. Then you need to be escorted through the justice system by police. By the time the case has been heard and you can begin to heal from what’s happened, all sense of justice has been totally extracted from the process. “It was 16 months from when I went to the police initially until it went to court. It was a long wait”, writes one anonymous survivor. But, this does not even begin to address the 94% of sexual assaults in New Zealand that aren’t reported at all and who assumingly are left to find their own version of justice. As if to console sexual assault victims trying to utilise police resources, the Ministry of Justice ‘Victim Information’ website features this statement by an ‘anonymous victim-survivor’: “[The process] was a million times harder than I thought it would be. But I don’t regret it. If I had to do it again, I would.”
The same sentiment is repeated in most stories I read online. However, it is importantly distinguished from an acceptance of sexual assault statistics or an acceptance of the enduring process of earning justice. Whilst women demonstrate strength time and time again by sharing their experiences and advocating for change, they shouldn’t be the only ones driving the movement.
As for me, if I had to do this all again, I would. Not because it was easy or even fucking worth it, but because if I don’t—how will others know that they can? If justice cannot even be asked for, how can it be received?
*Some names have been changed to protect people’s privacy