Note: this story contains references to sexual assault.
Hearing about sexual assault can be difficult and potentially triggering, especially for survivors. But throughout February it has been difficult to avoid.
Allegations of rape and revelations of a toxic culture in Parliament have dominated headlines, and frontline services have told Crikey they’ve been struggling to cope.
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A spokesperson from Blue Knot Foundation — which helps adults traumatised as children recover — said there had been a 10% increase in calls, though numbers have since returned to normal levels.
Eleanor Campbell, acting operations manager at Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia, told Crikey that media coverage had caused many survivors to grapple with new emotions.
“We’ve been in contact with existing clients who are finding the wall of media around this really triggering, and we’re finding a lot of new clients who have never engaged us before and are quite confused about their response which is only coming up for them for the first time,” she said.
“It’s covering a whole range of survivors from those who experienced sexual harassment or sexual harm in the workplace to people who have experienced sexual harm in institutional and very historic experiences.
“We’re also finding that very strong emotions are being triggered by feelings of injustice.”
Grace Tame’s address to the National Press Club on Wednesday caused more calls, Campbell said.
“It made everyone slow down and reflect on how this was all impacting [survivors],” she said.
Campbell noted that a surge in calls shows the message of where to find support is out there, but more resources for frontline services were always needed.
She said KPI-driven and short-term funding meant organisations often struggled to deal with surges, and a short influx of cash does little to provide immediate help as workers have to be trained.
“We are absolutely flat out,” she said.
1800RESPECT received more than 21,600 calls across February while a spokesperson from Lifeline said call numbers had remained high since the bushfires in 2019 and 2020, rising again still during COVID-19.
“Through 2020 we regularly received over 3000 calls a day [and] the high level of calls has been sustained into 2021,” the spokesperson said.
“There has been plenty of media interest in mental health services and thankfully journalists have been working hard to ensure that the community is aware of how important it is to access support when needed.”
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au.
For anyone seeking help, Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and Beyond Blue is 1300 22 4636.
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“Eleanor Campbell, acting operations manager at Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia…said KPI-driven and short-term funding meant organisations often struggled to deal with surges, and a short influx of cash does little to provide immediate help as workers have to be trained.”
KPI-driven and short-term funding??
I think about #sportsrorts and robodebt and $30,000,000 for land valued at $3,000,000 and understand immediately why I think so little of the entire Morrison ministry. I cannot think of a single thing this government has done that demonstrates empathy and competence.
I am ashamed to be Australian.
I am ashamed of what this country has become.
The nasty mean spirited corrupt government we now have, overseen by a man who has a vision of himself as the permanent resident of Kirrabilli House.
That’s it, no vision for the future our society other than more of the same, as Howard, the originator of the vision of the mean spirited, nasty, petty, corrupt government.
Seeing comments in Crikey are switched off for substantive issues – ultimate form of censorship-The help lines are overwhelmed because they are seen as outlet for pent up problems not addressed by society – relying on government is no help. What journalism misrepresents also confuses the vulnerable. For instance the kerfuffle of Higgins and Porter is portrayed as a pattern of behaviours when in fact there is nothing common . One is a tale of 2 normal teenagers the other other is a probable criminal offence not reported by a Minister . So it is no wonder that journalists in search of deadlines distort reality for the masses and make the vulnerable more aware of their vulnerability thus imposing a burden on support services.
The David Hardaker article is switched off for comments, so i’ll just shoe horn in here, that it would be/will be(?) illuminating to know of/if the alleged victim has left documentation that preceeds the meetings with the Sydney psychologist in 2019..Perhaps only an enquiry could answer that….PS…your tale of a ‘tale of 2 normal teenagers’ is a good shoe in too 😉
That Hardaker article is disturbing….but until the entire dossier becomes available for public study and debate, we can have no way of knowing without a judicial enquiry with public results. My belief is still that Thornton was telling the truth and Porter is a highly trained liar, and I reckon a lot of other people feel the same way. Similarly we know that Morrison is a compulsive liar and professional obfuscator.
Your “belief” about something of which you have no knowledge is as valuable as SmoKo’s alleged belief in sky fairies.
If Australians see this as “a tale of 2 normal teenagers“, then yes we have a very concerning pattern of behaviours that develop at a young age in this country. If a teenage boy is excused for not understanding or seeking consent, or a teenage girl is haunted by memories that may have been distorted down the years, we have a real problem if we just dismiss this as normal.
The Hardaker article does change the context of virtually everything written by Crikey on the events over the rest of this week, particularly Amber Schultz’s account of events on Monday, although Amber does claim “One friend said he was made aware of the alleged attack several months after it happened.” as opposed to David Hardaker’s suggestion that her friend’s were impressed by the consistency of her story, but apparently only after learning of it since the woman’s therapy et al in 2019.
However, returning to the dismissive “a tale of 2 normal teenagers”, whichever side of this story is accurate, you are either dismissing an educated 18 year old boy’s need to understand consent, or worse if he did drug her, or that there was something so brutal in the interactions then or later, that it distorted the teenage girl’s memory of what happened. Either way, this should not be considered a normal teenage interaction, and if it is, then we really do have systemic problems that need to be addressed with education on undertsanding consent, and/or understanding the consequences of a breakdown of relationships, and dealing with them in a more healthy way.
Monday’s Crikey Worm states:
“Amid increased media speculation over “Recovered Memory Theory” (RMT) — including here at Crikey — it is perhaps important to emphasise two key things. Firstly, that the woman in question communicated her allegations in her diary and to friends as early as 1989, as well as to a sexual assault counsellor eight years ago.”
This makes Hardaker’s concerning comments that
“She reconnected with other old friends. They believed her and have said again and again how much they were convinced by the sincerity and the consistency of what she said. And why wouldn’t that be the case? The images the woman was remembering were freshly minted.”
completely misrepresent many aspects of this historic rape allegation, and suggested that friends who were quoted by Amber Schultz that they had been aware of the rape allegation months later and that her claims were consistent were lying, and her accusations may have been based on false memories. I really have a problem with selective reporting that undermines the claims of an alleged rape victim by omission, which is what Hardaker has done. Raising concerns about a type of therapy is one thing, but suggesting there is no evidence of her memories over the preceeding 31 years, is a terrible misrepresentation that undermines all of the other reporting in this publication.
Well said, see my comments from few minutes ago
Half a dozen articles in and this is the first opportunity to comment.
The blatant up-yours on the sub head to Cannold’s piece -“… presents two sides of an argument. Then it’s over to you: what do you think is true, and what do you think Cannold really believes?”
Why are we asked what a writer infamous for one the one hand, on the tuther wittering thinks?
And then only via the editorial staff – to winnow out dissent, like the gutless Grauniad with its “premoderated comments“.
Besides that, who cares about for or against? There are procedures for truthfinding. If truth cannot be found the accused is rightly presumed innocent, but not been proven innocent as I read somewhere. What disturbs me though is Turnbull butting in about the need for an inquest into the death of the woman. Is he thinking of foul play?
Talcum was always prone to attention deprivation stress but that, from a barrister was off the unhinged scale.
The woman had a failed marriage and “demons” – a prime candidate for grasping at straws.
The mob mentality currently running rife is no different to blasphemy hysteria in Pakistan or Puritan craziness in Salem.
When this is all over, half the staff at Creaky ought to resign in embarrassment and go do something more useful like pick oakum.
This is exactly what I watched happen to the hippies in the 60s, finding that thinking & acting as individuals responsible for their own actions was just wayyyy too hard.
This lead to the flight from reason and embrace of UFOs, angels, ghosts and the entire panoply of the preEnlightenment.
Their kids are now the crazies involved in canx culture of which this moral panic is a political version.
Note how the more we read of her statement the less credible it becomes – small wonder that the whole text has NOT been made available.
Malcolm is a shark jumper of self notoriety, but the woman’s (alleged)story deserves better than this particular disturbing Hardaker narrative about bat shit crazy…
The gutless Grauniad !?…Are you talking about that infamous journal of progressive narratives that liberally sovieted Assange out of the picture ?..
The very one – CP Scott would be turning in his grave at what it has become.
Ms Tame ought to be offended that her pic was used but without decent coverage of her speech.
As for KPI driven, just what a counselling service needs, MBA babble.
Disgusted that you have switched off comments for Hardaker’s article. I demand an apology for the blatant slur on the reputation of Bessel Van Der Kolk. The allegations Hardaker makes are false and were disproven. EMDR is evidence based. Where does Hardaker get his information from. And how can you be sure they are recovered memories? Many of my sexual assault patients repress memories for years which come back in the form of nightmares , flashbacks or intrusive memories years later. Judges accept such evidence, Hardaker, so why are you being so provocative.
apologies from Crikey and Hardaker please.
I’m with you baby ..Hardaker has opened a can of worms only to (diss)cover he’s one of the king worms in this particular matter