An impact statement example: childhood sexual abuse, and not being believed

For many survivors of childhood sexual abuse, the abuse is only the start of what is being carried.

Jess is 19. She was abused by her step-father as a child. When she told her mother, her mother did not believe her, and chose to stay with him. Jess was the one who went into care. He is still in that house, with his own children. There was no conviction. Now she is applying for criminal injuries compensation in WA.

Jess is not a real person. Her statement is a fictional, drawn from what this experience is could actually be like for the many childhood sexual abuse survivors. It does not describe the abuse. An impact statement never needs to.

It can be really hard talking about what you experienced as a child. Even reading someone else's experience can be hard. Stop if you need a break and remember who your support people are if you need help.

The example statement

How I felt at the time

The day I told. I practised for weeks. I did it in the kitchen on a Tuesday after school because he was at work. Mum went quiet, and then she asked me if I was sure, and then she asked me what I'd been watching online. That's the moment I go back to at night. Not anything he did. That.

I was thirteen. I had done the hardest thing I will ever do, and by dinner time I was the liar in my own house.

Emotional wellbeing

I see a psychologist. She says trauma, but the way I'd say it is this: I stopped being able to tell if people mean what they say. He was lovely to me in front of everyone. So now when someone is lovely to me, I wait. I'm waiting to see what it costs.

I have nightmares I won't put on paper. I can't have anyone standing behind me. I'm nineteen and I'm tired in a way that sleep doesn't fix.

Relationships

My mum. I don't know how to write this section, so I'll just write it.

I hate her for not believing me. I miss her every day. People keep wanting me to pick one of those, and I can't, because both are true at the same time.

I've started seeing someone. For the first two months I would only meet him in public places. He was patient about it. I hated that I needed him to be.

Physical health

I grind my teeth at night, badly enough that my dentist asked about it. My stomach was wrecked all through year eight and year nine. The school thought I was faking sick. I wasn't faking. I was trying not to go home.

Financial impact

When I went into care I changed schools twice, and my marks fell off a cliff in the years that matter. I deferred the course I wanted to do. I work full time at McDonalds now and I'm good at my job, but I'm two years behind where I should be, and I'm doing it with no family behind me.

Daily life and routine

In any house, I always know where every adult is. Which room, how close. I do it without deciding to. I didn't know other people don't do that until I said it out loud at group once and everyone went quiet.

Sense of safety

There was no conviction. He's just out there. At barbecues. Being everyone's favourite. My safety problem isn't dark alleys. It's how easy he is to like.

His daughters are ten and eight now. When I told the police, I told the child protection people about those girls too. Nobody tells you what happens after that. I think about them more than I think about myself. That's the fear I actually live with.

Spiritual and cultural wellbeing

I lost my whole family, not just a mother. Nan still sends birthday cards to that house. My cousins think I'm the one who broke everything. Because that's the story he tells, and his story is easier to live with than mine.

The thing I understand now that I couldn't at thirteen is that he is good at this. Everyone believed him because he is believable, and that's not an accident. Some days that makes it a little easier about mum. Most days it doesn't.

Who I was before this happened

I was eleven. I had a mum I told everything to. That's the before I lost. Not hobbies. Her.

What I want the assessor to know

There was no conviction, and I want to say why that shouldn't count against me. I reported it. I did the interviews. I helped with everything they asked. It didn't get to court because it was my word against his, and his word comes with that smile. My worker says I can still apply because I reported and cooperated. I hope that's true, because it's all I could do.

What I'm asking for is to keep seeing my psychologist without choosing between her and groceries, and to start my course next year.

But mostly I want one official piece of paper that says this happened to me. My own mother never gave me that. Maybe you can.

One more honest thing, because my worker said honesty is the whole point of this. If my mum ever leaves him, I'll be there the same day. I'm not proud of that. It's just true.

"{{cta-card}}"

Why this statement matters

Notice what carries it. Not the abuse, which is never described, but the disclosure scene in the kitchen, the moment that turned the bravest thing she ever did into being the liar in her own house. For survivors whose families didn't believe them, that second injury is often the one that shapes everything after, and Jess gives it the weight it deserves instead of apologising for it.

Notice, too, what the statement refuses to resolve. The mother thread ends exactly where it really ends for so many survivors: hate and yearning at once, and a door held open that she isn't proud of. A statement doesn't need a tidy ending to be strong. It needs to be true, and unresolved is often the truest thing there is.

And notice what the claim itself means here. Jess says it plainly: she wants one official piece of paper that says it happened. For a survivor who was never believed at home, a compensation decision is more than money. It is the state putting on the record what her family would not. In WA, that path exists even without a conviction, provided the offence was reported and you helped police, and Jess's final section shows exactly how to say so.

If this is your situation

If you were sexually abused as a child in WA, you may be able to claim criminal injuries compensation, even though it happened years ago, even though you were a child, and even if there was never a conviction, as long as it was reported to police and you helped with their enquiries. Time limits exist, but childhood offences have paths through them, so don't decide alone that you're too late.

Your statement does not need to sound like this

Jess's voice is hers, not a standard. Yours will carry weight because it is yours. Justice Draft's free tool walks you through the same ten sections one question at a time, at your own pace and in private. It doesn't write your statement for you or soften your words. It asks, and you answer, and what comes out is true, which is the only thing that matters here.