A woman with an intellectual disability experienced “extreme mental health concerns” after reporting her sexual assault to Queensland police, who made her feel “blamed” and “judged”, an inquiry has heard.
Social worker Jacelyn Parsons said officers made no additional effort to support the woman or adapt their communication style after she disclosed her disability.
“She said that she felt like the detectives were blaming her for wanting to find a boyfriend, for wanting to date,” Parsons said.
“She’s now really, really scared of the police … following that interaction.”
The testimony came during the third week of public hearings from the commission of inquiry into the Queensland police service’s responses to domestic violence incidents.
The inquiry also heard QPS had often failed to link elder abuse with domestic and family violence.
Cybele Koning, chief executive at Caxton Legal Centre, said police did not assist a woman in her 80s with lodging a domestic violence protection order against her adult son, despite a long history of physical, verbal, emotional and financial abuse.
The woman had moved states to escape her son, who made death threats, smashed property, spat at her and acted violently towards his siblings, Koning told the inquiry.
“A DVO was made on behalf of a sibling in that other state … When we became involved and advocated police, the police did not assist,” she told the inquiry.
In another instance, police were “not receptive” when a 90-year-old man took his mobility scooter to a station at 4am in the morning to report abuse by his adult son, Koning said.
She said the elderly man was physically, verbally and financially abused by his son, who was drug-affected and had been living with him.
The inquiry was also told of officers “buddying up” with male perpetrators and a culture of police “protecting themselves” at all costs.
Karyn Walsh, chief executive at Micah Projects, told the inquiry she’d heard instances of officers not taking women seriously despite being told: “I feel he’s going to kill me.”
Walsh told the inquiry an officer had spoken at length with a perpetrator about rugby but failed to take action on a domestic violence matter.
Emma Wilson, a domestic violence advocate based at the Vulnerable Persons Unit in South Brisbane, said officers regularly gave wrong and inconsistent advice to victims and rarely admitted when mistakes were made.
Wilson said there were “extremely traumatic” situations of victims being misidentified as perpetrators that officers did not attempt to rectify, instead relying on the courts to make decisions.
She also said the QPS failed to see the risk to victims and their children “on a regular basis”, viewing domestic violence matters as relationship issues, rather than from a criminal perspective.
The inquiry also heard that young victims and LGBTQ+ people were often reluctant to report domestic violence to police.
Di Mahoney, acting chief executive at Brisbane Youth Service, said up to 70% of young people supported by the service between 12 and 25 years of age have experienced family violence.
Mahoney said 50% of young people had disclosed experiencing violence in an intimate relationship, while 25% had admitted to perpetrating violence.
Ellie Hansson, solicitor at the LGBTI Legal Service Inc, said LBGTQ+ victims are often taken less seriously and recalled hearing an officer refer to a domestic violence incident as a “lover’s spat” over body-worn camera footage.
A Queensland police spokesperson said “the QPS will work with the commission of inquiry to examine any issues raised … and respond accordingly”.
“We are committed to strengthening and improving our response to domestic and family violence matters to ensure the Service is supporting all victims and holding perpetrators to account.”
In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org.
