A victim's pathway

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:

• What support services are available – regardless of whether they choose to report to police
• What rights victims of sexual violence have when engaging with support services and criminal justice agencies
• What steps can occur in Queensland’s criminal justice system if the sexual violence is reported

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:

• Episode 1: Seeking support after experiencing sexual violence
• Episode 2: Presenting at a hospital
• Episode 3: Reporting sexual violence to Police
• Episode 4: The criminal justice (court) process
• Episode 5: Your rights after an offender has been sentence.
• You can listen to the podcasts on their own, or read the information and listen – the choice is yours.

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:

• The information refers to sexual violence
• The podcast is not suitable to listen to around children
• If you need support at any time while reading this information or listening to the podcast, you can call the Sexual Assault Helpline on 1800 010 120 who are available 7 days a week between 7:30am – 11:30pm.

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.

Using this resource

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.