Esmeralda
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.
Esmeralda is a First Nations woman with epilepsy. She was diagnosed a few years ago after being violently arrested, and is currently in prison.
‘All that has happened to me [stemmed] from being sexually abused as a child,’ Esmeralda told the Royal Commission.
A man from her small regional town sexually abused Esmeralda over several years when she was growing up.
‘I tried to go to boarding school … but ended up on the street [of a regional city] at the age of 15 drinking and smoking drugs.’
Police arrested Esmeralda and she was sent to prison.
‘Then [I] got out and found a nice man. [We] settled down and had a beautiful baby girl.’
Life was going well until she and her partner were evicted from their rented home a couple of years ago. They stayed with friends until they found accommodation at a caravan park. The next day, the owners of the caravan park told them to leave.
‘I went to the office and asked for a refund, but they refused. I believe I was assaulted in the office because I peed myself and ran out and tried calling the police.’
Esmeralda said that when the police came, they didn’t believe she’d been assaulted.
‘[They] arrested me, slamming my head into the ground while my partner was holding my daughter who was crying … Since then I have been very sick with nocturnal seizures and epilepsy to the point my partner is my carer and looks after me and our child with the help of my mother.’
Esmeralda wanted the police who arrested her ‘charged and exposed for treating [her] like a dog’.
‘I’ve been good for many years since getting released from prison [the first time], until [recently] being brought back [to prison].’
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.