Leigh
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.
‘When you add any kind of disability, I reckon domestic abuse has a whole different appearance.’
Leigh is in her 60s. She is blind and uses a white cane.
‘When I first met my husband, whilst my eye condition was degenerative, I was able to drive, [do] everything, back in those days,’ Leigh told the Royal Commission.
As her sight failed Leigh became more reliant on her husband, who she now believes has ‘a serious mental health issue’.
‘A lot of his abuse is verbal and emotional and he just goes on and on and on. And I know that if it escalates too high … I would have an “accident”.’
Leigh said if they argued in the car, he would drive erratically.
‘And the faster we go, the less I can see. Okay? It’s just blurs coming at me and he knows that. So he used it.’
Leigh said she would ask to be let out and he would drive off. One day, he pulled over in the middle of a highway.
‘You know on the traffic side. And because he had been told that driving off leaving me in those conditions was considered domestic abuse, he no longer drove off. He just sat in the car.’
A passing motorist called the police.
‘When the police showed up it was a male and female. And the male well and truly yelled at me: “You don’t know how many people I’ve seen dying being hit by cars because they pulled over on the side of the highway.” He’s not yelling at my husband, who had the steering wheel. He’s yelling at me, who has no control.’
Leigh said the female officer realised she was the victim of domestic abuse and offered to drive her to a local train station.
‘As a non-disabled person in the earlier times of my life, it’s a great solution. But it’s a crap solution for somebody with any kind of disability. You’re putting me in a more vulnerable place where anything could happen.’
Leigh said she chose to get back into the car ‘and accepted continuing with the abuse’.
‘And trust me, he let me have it and made sure I knew that, “Don’t ever ask to be let out of the car again.”’
Leigh said her husband also controlled their finances. ‘Leaving him would make me penniless,’ she said.
‘The constant, “Why don’t you leave,” and, “We can make it easy for you to leave” actually means homeless and penniless and disabled.’
Nevertheless, Leigh recently left her husband, only to discover she’s not eligible for the Disability Support Pension.
‘I’m not blind enough to be on a blind pension.’
Instead, she’s applying for JobSeeker. Leigh told the Royal Commission she’d like to see the police and Centrelink have a better understanding of disability ‘when domestic violence is involved’, because she’s often left with no choice but to return to her husband.
‘Each time I’d tried to leave before, I end up homeless and penniless and no option. And because I’ve been alienated from friends and family I had, literally, nowhere to go.’
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.