Aboriginal people

What is sexual assault?

Sexual assault is any unwanted sexual behaviour.

If someone has sexual contact with you that you don’t want, that is sexual assault. If someone makes you do sexual things that you don’t want to do, that is sexual assault. And sexual assault also includes any sexual act that you are not able to consent to, for example if you are asleep or unconscious.

Sexual assault can take place in public or in private. It can be carried out by a stranger but is more often done by someone you know - a friend, family member, or partner.

Sexual behaviour that makes you feel uncomfortable or frightened is sexual assault. This can include:

• touching, grabbing or kissing your body, even through clothes
• rape (penetration of the anus, vagina or mouth with a finger, penis or object)
• being forced to watch or engage in pornography, including being made to pose for photographs or videos
• being made to perform sexual acts, including stimulating another person or masturbating
• another person showing you their genitals

Sexual assault can happen to anyone, but Aboriginal people may face different or additional challenges to other groups.

Sexual assault is never your fault.

Everyone has the right to feel safe, and to make decisions about their own body. Sexual violence is an abuse of power. No person deserves to be sexually assaulted. A person who commits sexual assault is responsible for their own behaviour.

How common is it for Aboriginal people to experience sexual violence?

It is hard to put an exact figure on the exact number of Aboriginal people who experience sexual violence, especially within Tasmania, but the figures we do have from researchers elsewhere show that it is an issue of concern.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, rates of sexual assault among Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander children in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory in 2012 were two to four times higher than rates among non-Indigenous children.

Safe and Equal, a support body for victim-survivors in Victoria, notes that 3 in 5 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by a male intimate partner.

However, as Antoinette Braybrook, CEO of Aboriginal-led women’s support organisation Djirra says:

“While the data shows the high rates of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, it does not show that the perpetrators of this violence are all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men. In fact … Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are hurt by men from many different cultures and backgrounds. So, when we talk about the gendered nature of violence against our women, it’s not about demonising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men or labelling them all as perpetrators of violence. It’s just about calling out violence for what it is, and that’s violence against women.”

What are some of the challenges for Aboriginal people who experience sexual violence?

An Aboriginal person who has experienced sexual violence will face many of the same challenges as any other victim survivor. But there are also a wide range of additional issues that are unique to their experiences.

These can include:

• fear of not being believed or listened to
• a legacy of poor police response to Aboriginal people
  • including racism, disbelief, or being slow to react -
• leading to distrust and unwillingness to disclose
• community or family pressure not to report
• a history of Aboriginal women feeling unsupported
• and unprotected through legal processes, including
• the courts
• lack of cultural awareness among non-Aboriginal
• healthcare and support workers

What is the impact of sexual assault on Aboriginal people?

Each survivor reacts to sexual violence in their own unique way. It is important to respect each person’s choices and style of coping with this traumatic event.

There is no right or wrong way to feel after a sexual assault. But common responses include:

• Shock/disbelief – “I never thought this could happen to me”

• Fear – “Will the perpetrator hurt me again?”
• Anger – “How dare they do this to me?”
• Shame – “How can I show my face again?”
• Guilt/self-blame – “If only I hadn’t…”
• Betrayal – “But I trusted them”
• Numbness – “I feel so hollow”
• Worry/anxiety about the future – “Will my life ever be the same?”

Some common symptoms and effects of trauma are: flashbacks, nightmares, mood swings, insomnia, exhaustion, loss of appetite, over-eating, feeling numb or spaced out, avoidance of people and places, anxiety and panic attacks, depression, risk-taking behaviour, self-harming, or self-medicating through alcohol and/or drug use.

Reaching out for support can be an important way to help you work through the trauma you have experienced. Healing is possible and everyone does this in their own way and at their own pace. Despite your trauma, you also have your own resources and strengths that can also help you recover from the impacts of sexual violence.