Shandra
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.
‘There's no accountability. There's still a lot of coercion going on and invalidation. And you know, it's not mental health at all. It's just, “Do what we say and shut up.”’
Shandra is in her early 50s and lives with schizophrenia and psychosocial disability.
‘My illness started when I was 17 and I've always been in public systems,’ she told the Royal Commission.
About 15 years ago, Shandra was admitted to a psychiatric ward ‘after being suicidally depressed’. One morning she woke up with dishevelled clothes and bruises. She said one of the staff had drugged and raped her.
Shandra reported the assault but said the police didn’t take her ‘seriously at all’. They took photos that showed ‘black bruising under [her] buttocks’, but she felt they ‘bungled the investigation’. She found the whole process ‘absolutely humiliating’ and felt ‘abused’.
A few weeks later, a detective called Shandra in for further questioning.
‘And he basically was just really abusive … It was like he was gonna attack me … And he said, “It didn't happen. There was no semen found.”’
The matter did not go to trial and a lawyer told Shandra the photos of her injuries ‘had gone missing’.
‘The detectives and the hospital and everybody failed in their duty of care … They've gotten away with it. There's no accountability of night staff particularly.’
During involuntary admissions to mental health wards, Shandra said police were ‘totally insensitive’ about her disability.
‘I’ve experienced police brutality.’
One time, she said, they handcuffed and manhandled her.
‘There was no need for handcuffs. And no need for abuse … It was violent. I think they gave me kidney blows to my left kidney. I was bruised in my wrists from the handcuffs being too tight. My shoulder's still out ... years later.’
At the hospital, an officer was ‘standing over’ her abusing her. An emergency doctor told him to get out and took an X-ray of Shandra’s ribs.
‘And there were no broken ribs, but it took me about six months to get over … And it's swept under the carpet. And, hey, most people just don't even want to engage with the systems, because they're so cruel and nasty.’
Another time, police took her away in her ‘little pink nightie’. They wouldn’t let her get her personal belongings.
‘It was just so inappropriate. No clothes, no nothing … I still freak out thinking police might turn up at my door again.’
Shandra has never had an advocate during these involuntary admissions and ‘absolutely nothing is explained’ to her.
She wants measures taken to stop abuse ‘that you can’t prove’ in the mental health system – ‘cameras that work, phone calls to be recorded.’
In her experience, public psych wards are ‘totally untherapeutic’.
‘I have been there overnight, and it's horrible. There's no outdoors. It's like a prison. The tables and chairs are like cemented to the floor … There's no interaction with the staff.’
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.