Erika

‘When I stopped being allowed to see my daughter, I thought I was going to have a heart attack … I went to the hospital. And they said, “It’s not a heart attack. It’s like a broken heart.”’

Erika has cerebral palsy and is Deaf. She lip-reads and uses Auslan. She told the Royal Commission she is often ‘mistaken for being intoxicated’.

One time she was assaulted and robbed. She went to the police who thought she was drunk. ‘I couldn’t report a crime until I went to the doctor’s and got a medical certificate saying that I’m not intoxicated, and I’ve got cerebral palsy.’

Another time Erika was in court and the judge assumed she was drunk. The judge ‘yelled at her’ and told her if she ever came to court ‘in that state again’ she would hold her in contempt of court. ‘Guess I’m going to jail then,’ Erika responded. ‘Because I’m coming back next time in the same state. I’ve still got cerebral palsy. There’s nothing I can do about it.’

‘This is my life,’ Erika said. ‘[This] stuff … happens every day.’

Erika believes the department of child protection removed her daughter, Mia, from her care because of ‘the way she presented’.

Five year ago, Erika and Mia were living in the country. A friend was staying with them while his sister was sick. At the time, Erika was working 12-hour night shifts and a babysitter stayed with Mia during the night. Mia asked if the friend could look after her instead of the babysitter. ‘I didn’t have a problem with that … I trusted this guy. I had known him forever.’

Alone at night, he sexually abused Mia.

Two years later, Mia’s behaviour became ‘very violent’. She told Erika about the abuse and Erika immediately reported it to the police. Erika and Mia went to counselling but Mia’s behaviour escalated and she became suicidal. She would attack Erika telling her, ‘I want to die, mum. But I want you to come with me.’

Desperate, Erika contacted the department of child protection for help. They didn’t offer any support and assumed Erika ‘lacked the capacity’ to care for Mia. They immediately removed Mia.

The department continued to refuse all contact. ‘I haven’t seen her for three years … I can’t imagine what they told my daughter.’

Erika has tried everything to reunite with Mia. At one stage a child protection officer suggested her best chance was to leave the house where the abuse occurred. Erika sold her house ‘for a very low price’ and moved to a different area. ‘But that still didn’t result in [Mia] returning home.’

Erika has worked as a disability support worker for 20 years. ‘I’m allowed to work with extremely vulnerable people, but I’m not allowed to look after my own daughter. That’s unbelievable.’

The department told Erika’s older daughter that if she wanted to maintain a relationship with her sister, she should take out an intervention order against Erika. ‘I’ve lost … everyone. My friends, my family.’

Not long ago the perpetrator phoned, telling Erika he was having a party because police had dropped the charges. Erika contacted police who said there was nothing they could do and told her to speak to the department. The department told Erika that Mia wasn’t ‘mentally fit enough’ to testify in court.

‘I was so angry … He got away with raping my seven-year-old daughter.’ Erika said when she asked the department about ‘the next child he rapes’, the response was ‘It’s none of our concern.’

Erika had two necklaces she used to wear every day. When she thought she was having a heart attack she asked the department to give them to Mia. Recently, Erika asked about the necklaces. ‘They told me that she hasn’t got them … they told me they’ve misplaced them.’