It took Shannon Stokes two years and 11 days to successfully prosecute her former boyfriend for sexual assault and domestic violence offences.
asserted
It → take → assault
The lengthy trial left her feeling as though “there wasn’t going to be an end in sight”.
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trial → leave → sight
Prosecutors secured convictions on nine of the 11 charges, and he was later sentenced to five years in prison.
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he → secure → prison
Stokes, 28, from New South Wales, said a “sense of doom” throughout the trial was compounded by a lack of appropriate legal assistance as she navigated the justice system, a world she said felt “so alien” to her.
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she → say → her
She recalled receiving pamphlets in the lead-up to the trial that she said were “more or less about how to look presentable” in court.
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she → recall → court
“I also had a few pieces of paper handed to me on the day going into that courtroom, and that was what I had to kind of go off …
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I → have → what
it just makes you feel so isolated and like a number in the system rather than a person who has actually been victimised by violence.”
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who → make → violence
Experts say Stokes’ experience is common among sexual assault victim-survivors pursuing justice.
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experience → say → justice
Sarah Rosenberg, the executive director of the victim-led network With You We Can and an advocate for justice reform, has long called for greater support for victim-survivors navigating the legal system.
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We → lead → system
“They’re expected to navigate a very isolating, very complex system entirely alone,” she said.
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she → expect → system
“They’d essentially have to become legal experts overnight just to figure out what is going on in a case that supposedly revolves around them.
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that → have → them
Rosenberg said an adversarial justice system often further traumatises victim-survivors.
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system → say → survivors
“That process of having the victim-survivor be a witness opens them up to a lot of re-traumatising during the process …
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survivor → have → process
There is nothing that mimics the dynamics of abuse more than being relegated to just a witness in the accountability process.
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that → be → process
This week, the NSW government announced it would establish the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Legal Service, operating through Legal Aid NSW.
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it → announce → NSW
The $1.74m expansion will provide free legal support for a range of sexual assault matters, including advice about the criminal process, survivors’ rights during police investigations and prosecutions, and assistance with access to victims’ compensation.
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expansion → provide → compensation
The pilot program is part of the state government’s $6.2m strengthening sexual violence justice responses package announced last month, which is backed by federal funding.
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which → strengthen → funding
Robyn Gilbert, a senior solicitor at Legal Aid NSW who will lead the service, said: “The point of the service is to bring some autonomy and choice back to survivors, to be better informed and have a clearer idea of their own rights and their role in the system.
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point → lead → system
said the service would be “open to all callers” across the state.
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service → say → state
“Really, the only eligibility criteria is to have experienced a sexual assault,” Gilbert said.
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Gilbert → experience → assault
The NSW minister for the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault, Jodie Harrison, said navigating the legal system could be overwhelming for many victim-survivors.
uncertain
navigating → say → survivors
“Accessing the right support at the right time is an important part of ensuring they are treated with dignity and respect throughout the justice process,” she said.
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she → access → process
Ged Kearney, the federal assistant minister for the prevention of family violence, said: “I have heard from many victim-survivors of sexual violence that their experience seeking legal advice after an assault can be traumatic during what’s already a very traumatic period.”
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what → say → assault
Stokes said she experienced those challenges during her own trial, when questions were dismissed or repeated, and she was required to submit evidence for victims’ compensation more than once.
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she → say → compensation
The pilot program was a step towards addressing the trauma of navigating “a really hard legal system”, she said.
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she → address → system
“Having such a big time pass between my assault and going to court definitely affected me more mentally …
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time → have → me
I say it light-heartedly, but I think it actually traumatised me more than my actual assault did.”
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assault → say → me
The Aporia
