The revelations in Parliament this week about the devastating wait times faced by victim-survivors of sexual assault should be shocking but sadly they come as no surprise to those of us working in the sexual violence sector.
It again highlights the case we have been putting to Government that an immediate investment in sexual assault services is desperately needed.
While figures show wait times of up to a year for services in metropolitan areas, the reality in regional WA is even more dire with some areas having no sexual assault support services at all. A fundamental overhaul of how government funds sexual assault services, particularly in regional and remote communities, is urgently needed.
Right now too many victim-survivors are travelling long distances to access essential support and forensic medical examinations. This sends a harmful message that sexual violence is not treated as the serious and traumatic violation that it is.
Access to trauma-informed services can be both life-changing and life-saving. Yet, as the parliamentary data confirms, sexual assault support services remain chronically underfunded and oversubscribed, unable to meet existing or growing demand.
We recently highlighted the latest ABS data which laid bare the shocking prevalence of sexual violence in WA — the highest recorded number of sexual assault victims in the 32-year time series. Yet even these figures only scratch the surface, as sexual violence including child sexual abuse, sexual assault, and sexual exploitation remains one of the most under-reported categories of serious crime.
Many victim-survivors delay disclosing for years, often due to fear, shame, and the lack of community understanding about the many contexts in which sexual violence occurs and its profound, lasting impacts.
When disclosures do occur, safety and support are critical. Victim-survivors must be believed and responded to in ways that prioritise their safety and wellbeing. Research consistently shows that negative or dismissive responses to disclosure can cause deep and lasting harm. Ensuring timely access to specialist sexual assault support services is therefore not optional, it is essential.
If we are serious about ending sexual violence and supporting victim-survivors to rebuild their lives, an immediate uplift in funding is the bare minimum required. Victim-survivors are already paying the price for this neglect and every delay only deepens the harm.
After seven consecutive budget surpluses, it is well past time for Government to confront the woefully insufficient funding provided to sexual assault support services. Government has a responsibility to ensure that every victim-survivor no matter where they live can access the support they need, when they need it.
