Sara
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.
‘Police should ask people if they identify as having a disability as some disabilities … can be invisible.’
Sara has a cognitive disability and says she has experienced ‘violence and neglect’ from the police.
She described an occasion when she was ‘peacefully protesting … holding up a sign and keeping to myself’. She felt someone grabbing her arm. ‘A police officer then pulled me down and dragged me along the ground,’ she said. Six officers surrounded her, ‘grabbing and kicking’ her.
The incident left Sara with large bruises on her arms and legs and ‘red marks from the kicks and grabs’. She was told there were so many police because she was a ‘dead weight’.
Sara made a complaint to the state crime and corruption commission.
A few weeks later she was interviewed by a detective at a local police station. ‘They tried to fine me for the protest,’ Sara said. She tried to show them photographic evidence but they wouldn’t look at it and ‘threatened to arrest’ her. They separated her from her partner and told her she was being ‘difficult’. The detective ‘denied police brutality’.
‘I left the station feeling frustrated and angry, and the case was filed and finalised.’
Sara described a later incident when she attended another protest, with a new partner, and was pushed to the ground. She wasn’t sure whether it was the police or her partner. ‘The police officer refused to become involved and wouldn’t let me look at camera footage … to discover what had happened.’
After this, Sara reported experiencing domestic violence from her new partner. She had ‘significant difficulty communicating with the police’ but she was ‘granted a domestic violence order’.
She said her partner breached the order but ‘police only spoke to him on one occasion’ and told her the ‘CCTV footage relevant to a breach went missing’.
Sara made another official complaint about the police but was told she was ‘being difficult’.
When she reported subsequent incidents to the police, the officer told her she was ‘being paranoid’.
Sara stopped reporting anything to the police even though the violence continued. ‘I feel as though the police are using my past against me and that there will be judgement and disbelief if I try to report anything again.’
Sara reported these incidents to support workers, a domestic violence refuge and lawyers. ‘These people all believed me, were supportive and recognised that the abuse has happened.’
Sara would like the police to improve their communication so they ‘don’t belittle and neglect people’. She wants them to ‘believe people and listen to their stories’. She wishes someone higher up in the police force had contacted her and spoken to her after she made complaints.
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.