Ariya
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.
Ariya is in her late 30s.
Throughout her childhood, she told the Royal Commission, she was physically and sexually abused by her father and grandfather.
By the time she was in her 20s she was dangerously underweight. She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, periodontal disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. Her father wouldn’t allow her to get help or support and continued to expect her to work in the family business.
‘When I was physically unable to work, I would be beaten.’
Eventually Ariya became so unwell she was admitted to a clinic to gain weight. She said she was ‘lucky to leave the family home alive’. She learnt to ‘normalise’ her eating and manage her ‘extreme anxiety’.
After she was discharged from the clinic she did not feel safe going home. Instead she went to live in a nursing home.
‘I naively assumed that I would be safe. Unfortunately that was not the reality. While I was in the nursing home, I endured horrendous treatment, was bullied by the staff, denied the recommended food to assist with weight gain and frequently denied access to drinking water.’
After four months Ariya left. She was ‘financially destitute’ and had no choice but to go home. Her father continued to ‘physically, psychologically and emotionally’ abuse her.
A few years ago, she inherited some money and was able to buy her own ground-floor unit.
The owners’ corporation held meetings on the top floor of the building – there were no lifts.
Ariya struggled to attend the first meeting. She told them she had a physical disability and asked if they could move the meetings to the ground floor.
The chairperson told her they ‘always have the meetings upstairs’. Ariya questioned this decision and tried to explain her disability. They dismissed her by telling her she was ‘overly anxious’ and needed to ‘manage her anxiety’.
Ariya’s psychologist wrote to the owners’ corporation explaining her ‘physical distress to have to attend meetings on an upper floor’.
Ariya said the other owners interpreted her disability as a cognitive disability and as an inability to contribute in a worthwhile and equal manner.
‘The fact that I did disclose my disability has seemingly worked against me.’
Ariya believes her issues are routinely ignored and she ‘isn’t given a fair hearing’. For example, tree roots are blocking Arya’s sewerage pipes. She needs the owners’ corporation to get a plumber’s incursion report before the council will allow her to remove the tree. Despite repeated requests, the owners’ corporation refuses to act.
Ariya recently nominated to become a committee member. The chairperson informed her it would cause her ‘too much stress’ and he found her ‘too combative’. He also told her she uses her disability ‘as an excuse for expecting special and privileged treatment’.
‘The owners’ corporation seem to weld a lot of power and not always, on the face of it, in the overall best interests for all the tenants, especially so for someone who has a disability.’
Ariya’s mental health has deteriorated.
‘I now live in my own home, fearful, powerless and lonely.’
Ariya wants a ‘safe and secure life’, to be taken seriously and treated with dignity and respect.
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.