A victim's pathway
A resource for adults in Queensland who have experienced sexual violence.
Read introduction
I have read the introduction.This information has been written for adults who have experienced, or are experiencing, sexual violence in Queensland. It is also for people supporting an adult family member or friend who has experienced, or is experiencing, sexual violence.
The term sexual violence is used here to describe any sexual act that was done to you without you knowingly and freely giving consent or agree to. You may know this as sexual abuse, sexual assault, unwanted sexual acts, forced sexual acts or rape.
We acknowledge that this is a difficult time for you. You may feel scared, upset, shame or unsure of what to do next. It doesn’t matter if you don’t think the sexual violence was ‘serious enough’ or how long ago it happened, it was not your fault, sexual violence is a crime and there is support available.
This information is written to help adults who are a victim-survivor of sexual violence to understand:
You may also be reading this information if you are trying to decide whether to report sexual violence to the police.
Some words in this information are in bold. You can click on a bold word to find out more about what the word means.
To accompany this website, there are 5 podcast episodes you can listen to:
You can listen to the podcasts on their own, or read the information and listen - the choice is yours.
Before reading this information or listening to the podcast, please be aware:
This information is not legal advice and it is not meant to replace the support, information or legal advice that you might receive from agencies involved in your case.
This information is general in nature and may not represent your exact experience. It is designed to help you understand your rights and the supports available from the time of the sexual violence, along with what you might expect to experience.
This information was written for adults who have experienced sexual violence in Queensland, Australia. However, any victim-survivor of sexual violence is welcome to read the information or listen to our podcast – just be aware that laws are different in different states and countries. You might want to use this information as a guide, then ask your support service any questions you may have.
This information is general in nature and may not represent your exact experience. It is designed to help you understand your rights and the supports available from the time of the sexual violence, along with what you might expect to experience.
This information was written for adults who have experienced sexual violence in Queensland, Australia. However, any victim-survivor of sexual violence is welcome to read the information or listen to our podcast – just be aware that laws are different in different states and countries. You might want to use this information as a guide, then ask your support service any questions you may have.
This website has a Quick Exit button which you can use at any time if you need to leave the site quickly.
On each page, there is a side tray which provides information about your rights and support.
You can use this product with a support person or with someone that you trust, who can help you read through it. You can also listen to our podcast with or without reading the information on this site.
At the end of your choice of pathway, you have the option to print or save your pathway as a PDF. This option is not available on Android mobile phones – we are working to resolve this.