Columns

Before the last election, Key said that “victims of crime have been neglected for too long. It’s time we gave them the support they deserve.” It sounded good; I kind of get why people voted for that. What he didn’t mention, unfortunately, was just the kind of support victims deserved.

 
Last October, without talking to Rape Crisis or the Ministry of Health (whom they expected to pick up the slack) National brought in new ACC rules about treatment for victims of sex crimes, supposedly based on Massey research. These rules require victims to prove a mental illness caused directly as a result of their abuse before they can receive treatment. There was me thinking trauma was a sane reaction to rape (Massey is a bit confused about this, as they reckon their research didn’t recommend the changes).
Next came the rejections for ACC treatment. 472 approvals in January/February 2009 became 32 in the same period of 2010. Nationwide. Rejections included a woman who was raped in a psych unit denied treatment because she was already messed up before the rape, and another who was told it was technically her dysfunctional family which caused her problems and not the fact that they’d sexually abused her.
Sensitive Claims in 2005-2008 cost taxpayers $12-13 million dollars per annum. That’s about $3 each a year to provide treatment for victims of sex crimes. If trimming the fat is in order, how about looking at the $300 million party for beer companies and businessmen we call the Rugby World Cup? 
But it’s not all bad under National. Victims of sex crimes are now entitled to a one-off payment of $250 for damaged clothing. Never mind how offensive torn-panty payouts are to child victims or the vast majority of victims who don’t have their clothes ripped off in alleyways, it usually takes years for them to come forward and when they do, a sweet new outfit isn’t normally a major concern.
Public protests were quietened six months ago by promises of an independent review. It begins this week, just in time to patronise three children whose mother waited six months for assessment, was rejected as not “significantly damaged,” and killed herself four days later.
Is there really any way rape trauma can be dealt with by anything other than public funding? Only a tiny percentage of sex crimes leave a convicted offender to bill, and volunteers are up to their incredible eyeballs, so perhaps the only option we’re left with is private rape insurance and higher premiums for girls who wear short skirts.