Cecelia
Content Warning: These stories are about violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and may include references to suicide or self-harming behaviours. They may contain graphic descriptions and strong language and may be distressing. Some narratives may be about First Nations people who have passed away. If you need support, please see Contact & support.
Cecelia has epilepsy and experiences headaches and memory loss as a result of domestic violence.
Her partner began assaulting her more than a decade ago. After he started assaulting their children, she stabbed him.
‘I just couldn’t get out of the relationship … He’d beat me up when I’m drunk and then he bashed me and raped me … So I thought I’ll put a stop to that. He used to bash up my kids, too.’
Cecelia’s partner survived. Their children were taken into care and Cecelia was sent to jail.
Cecelia told the Royal Commission that not enough is being done to help women avoid domestic violence.
‘If they can give more help on the outside for women that get bashed, raped and all that. Give them a safe place, especially to get them away from wherever they are, fly them out or fly them somewhere, get them away from their partner.’
She said in the regional community in which she had lived, women often believed that domestic violence was their fault and didn’t talk about it. It wasn’t until she was in jail that she received help and attended courses to help improve her self-esteem.
‘Women from the community need to open up more, tell others, let them know, like to other people, open up. So I think in here, we need more help for ladies, all of us in here. We need to do some kind of a course to make ourselves more empowered for when we’re partnered outside.’
Cecelia would like to see more services available for women to help them leave abusive partners, as well as providing alternatives for women in jail, if they are returning to homes that are unsafe. Cecelia had chosen not to return to her regional community after being released on parole a few years ago, and became homeless.
‘There was nowhere to go, I had no families to help me.’
When she asked domestic violence support services for help finding accommodation she was told she did not qualify because she was already homeless.
‘They would try to help by ringing around to find a place to stay for a night or two and then you get a message back saying there’s nothing available, do you have any families?’
While homeless Cecelia was admitted to a hospital mental health unit, which referred her to a neurologist for surgery.
Cecilia returned to jail before she could receive treatment.
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.