Ballarat’s top police officer has opened up about her own experiences of sexual assault in the workplace and family violence in a bid to give a voice to victims who feel they have none.
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Superintendent Jenny Wilson, who was recently invited to speak at Ballarat’s Reclaim The Night, said the time was right for her to speak out about her own personal experiences in a hope of reaching out to other women who are suffering in silence.
A 29-year veteran of the police force, Superintendent Wilson said she had been a victim of workplace sexual assault as well as family violence as a child.
“I don’t think I’ve ever shied away from the issues,” Superintendent Wilson said.
“The time is right for me to share my own experiences, not just as a police member, but for myself and for the community.
“I do believe in working towards eliminating violence. There’s no doubt there is a changing focus on women and children and even young men to take away the stigma from victims.
“I’m not alone in this. There are many people who have public roles in the community who have had similar experiences to me.”
While refusing to go into full details about her specific workplace experiences, Superintendent Wilson said she agreed with findings in the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission Independent Review into sex discrimination and sexual harassment, including predatory behaviour in Victoria Police, released in December 2015.
In the report, 40 per cent of women and seven per cent of men who responded to the survey answered yes to the question ‘Have you ever personally experienced sexual harassment?’
Almost one in five female survey participants and one in 20 male survey participants had experienced harassment in a Victoria Police workplace that started in the previous five years.
The survey also found that two thirds of female survey participants and over half of male survey participants had witnessed at least one form of sexual harassment in the workplace in the past five years and that sexual harassment was most likely to occur in a station or office environment.
All 20 recommendations in the report have since been adopted by Victoria Police.
Superintendent Wilson said she had also seen family violence first hand
“I’ve been close to both my parents but unfortunately, like so many others, my parents suffered a marriage breakdown and at times that caused behaviour that people regret,” she said.
“I was a young child at the time. My experience was to gain an understanding of impacts of jealously and distrust what can occur as a marriage crumbles.
“As a child and we’re talking back in the 1970s, the police were called to our house and they drove away. Now Ballarat has a family violence investigation team and as specialists in the areas and deal differently with situations today.
“I made a commitment that we must be doing better than that. As a community we’ve got a long way to go to take these matters seriously,” Superintendent Wilson said.
“It gives people who experience this great shame. The community can change their attitude and be more open minded. It will also help victims and our community heal.”
She said she was determined to let victims know they were not alone. “Those people who have these types of experiences are not alone and its not an impediment to future success,” she said. “There is a way to recover and move forward. Sometime when you’re in the middle of it, you don’t really see that.
“My working life experience in being an investigator into child abuse and violence for more than half my career, I have always advocated for people to seek professional health.”
To raise awareness and trigger action to end this global scourge, the UN observes International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25. The date marks the brutal assassination in 1960 of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic.
What then follows is 16 days of activism against gender violence, ending on December 10, Human Rights Day. “I think as a local leader it’s important to be open and honest and provide a space,” Superintendent Wilson said.
As part of the United Nations 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign around the world, I’m motivated both professionally and personally to speak out about family violence.
From the mouth of Superintendent Wilson
“I’ve been a childhood victim of family violence and a victim of sexual assault in the workplace and public places. Professionally I’ve listened to and interviewed many victims of sexual violent, exploitation and violent abuse, so I understand this is a complex issue.
In crime prevention, there is a theory called the LOV triangle. This means that for a violent crime to occur three elements need to be present; location, offender and victim. If there’s no protective influence or guardian, then a crime or an incident will occur.
It’s the entire community’s responsibility to provide care for our vulnerable community members.
The police cannot act as the guardian alone, neither can a council; nor can a victim have sufficient protection all the time.
After 29 years of policing, I’m still surprised by the capability of and horrified by the many ways human beings can inflict violence upon each other.
But together as a community we can do a lot to provide guardianship over not just our vulnerable community members, our vulnerable spaces and our vulnerable offenders but over all of our community members.
I’m reminded of one of my favourites quotes by sociologist Margaret Mead “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful people can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has”.”
If you or someone you know needs emergency support, you can call a variety of helps lines. These include:
The National Sexual Assault and domestic and family violence counselling service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), WRISC on 5336 6000 or Lifeline 13 11 14.
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