Marinella
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.
Marinella, in her 50s, is under a community treatment order. She told the Royal Commission the ‘treatment’ she receives is ‘barbaric’.
‘I’m just a victim of domestic violence, and I’ve been put under the mental health act as a way of destroying me.’
Marinella’s ex-partner was violent.
‘He was always on spirits … smoking, drugs. He used to belt me up quite often when I was with him. Once he knocked me to the ground and he cracked me ribs.’
She said her ex was behind her first involuntary admission to a mental health ward. He called the police and accused Marinella of violence.
‘I’m not mentally ill. I don’t hear voices in my head … If you’re a victim of domestic violence, if you’ve got a violent man, put them in a drug rehab place. Not the women. You know, it’s wrong.’
Marinella spent a lot of time in a psychiatric facility at a regional hospital.
‘I didn’t have any say in it. And they wouldn’t discharge me. It is just like a death camp. Yeah, and there’s a lot of violence in there as well. You can get stabbed. And you can get belted up. I mean, I don’t deserve to go in there at all. It was disgusting. The food and drink, you can’t eat it, and you don’t have much of it. It’s just like being in a prison.’
Staff too were ‘terrible’, Marinella said.
‘They just do whatever they like. They don’t care. And all the doctors and nurses are just students, or else [they don’t speak English].’
Marinella no longer attends at the facility for treatment.
‘They come round and inject me on my property … These injections are dangerous and they need to be banned. I’m going to die if I have much more of it. I don’t want to die. I don’t really understand why I can’t get a choice of what medication I take. It’s like the dark ages here.’
She said that the nurse who comes every fortnight mistreats her.
‘All he does is interrogate me and wants money off me. Thinks I’m an animal.’
Marinella is feeling increasingly helpless. She’s not allowed to leave the area and has no community supports or a mental health advocate.
‘There’s no domestic violence women’s groups or anything. There’s not even a proper community centre here. I don’t mind being on this disability pension, but nobody will give me a job. There’s discrimination because I wasn’t born here. And because of [my ex], I’m on an injection that makes me feel lousy and it’s going to kill me … I’ve got nothing to live for really.’
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.