The White Balloon is a resource page about sexual assault. The page includes views about sexual assault, approaches to assault, survivor support and resources for residents of Queensland.

CLICK on a link to go to a topic

What is Sexual Assault?	Common Types of Assault
The Most Serious Assault	Approaches to Assault
Recovery from Assault	Tell your story
Where to get help	Links to useful pages

There are a number of definitions of Sexual Assault. Legal definitions are often narrow and overly restrictive. A useful definition is:
Any unwanted sexual contact or involvement by an adult or significantly older or more powerful child.

• Child Sexual Abuse Sexual abuse of children by adults or by older and more powerful children who dominate through sexual behaviour.
• Incest Sexual abuse of children committed by family members.
• Stranger Rape Violence, anger and power expressed sexually in an attack on a victim.
• Date/Acquaintance Rape Sexual abuse with or without violence perpetrated by a person known to the victim
• Intimate Partner Sexual Abuse Sexual abuse perpetrated on one partner by the other in a long-term relationship.
• Exhibitionism Display of the naked body or body parts to shock or intimidate the victim.
• Voyeurism Invasion of the victim's privacy either secretly or openly to gain sexual arousal.
• Obscene Phone Calls Invasion of a victim's privacy with sexually suggestive comments over the telephone in an effort to shock intimidate or sexually arouse the victim.
• Sadistic Sexual Abuse Sexual abuse in which the perpetrator incites or tries to incite a feeling of dread, horror or pain in the victim to increase the perpetrator's sexual arousal. Included are:
  • ritual sexual abuse
  • multiple perpetuators
  • torture
  • use of animals
  • insertion of foreign objects
  • use of weapons
  • physical restraints
• Sexual Exploitation Use of victims by means of sexual activity and/or pornographic photos to gain money or sexual gratification.
• Sexual Harassment Use of gender status and power differences to intimidate or control or intimidate a victim or to require sexual involvement. May be expressed as flirting or sexual suggestiveness.
• Gender Attack Behaviour which demeans the gender of a victim often with sexual overtones
• Gay Bashing Verbal or physical attacks directed against a victim's perceived homosexual orientation
• Internet Sexual Abuse Sexual abuse on the net may include:
  • Unwanted sexual comment in on-line chat
  • Unsolicited pornographic e-mail
  • Forced viewing of pornographic sites in order to demean intimidate or shock the victim

|INDEX|

It is important not to judge one form of sexual assault as more serious than another. It is the effect on the person of the experience that is significant. A seemingly small incident may have severe and long-term effects.

|INDEX|

• Sexual violence takes place within a social, political and legal context in which women are disempowered and victimised.
• Women have a right to live free from violence.
• Responsibility for sexual assault lies with the perpetrator and not with the victim, irrespective of the perpetrator's age, gender, social status or other circumstance.
• Rape, sexual assault and child sexual abuse are crimes of violence which many women experience as traumatic, life-threatening experiences.
• Sexual trauma has profound effects on the individual survivor's body, mind, emotions and spirit and on family, friends, the wider community and society.
• The after-effects of trauma are normal responses to abnormal events.
• Women survivors have a right to information so they can make choices about their legal, medical, safety, support and counselling options.
• Women survivors have a right to meet their diverse needs through a range of specialist and generalist services, including high quality services provided by professionally qualified female workers with training in the area of sexual assault.
• Women survivors are valued contributors to the provision of support services.
• Women who have survived and coped in whatever way with the impact of sexual assault have immense courage and strength.
• Women survivors have the ability and inner capacity to heal from the trauma of sexual assault.
• Women survivors have the right to be in control of their own process of healing and empowerment.
• A holistic model of health where the wellbeing of women includes physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social aspects is best suited to the needs of women survivors of sexual assault.

|INDEX|

Many women wonder whether they will ever get over the trauma of being sexualy assaulted. Many women experience sexual assault as a traumatic life-threatening experience. Some women may be too distressed to seek counseling immediately after the assault. Disturbing after-effects may continue for years. Often these take the sign of post-traumatic stress symptoms such as:

• sleep difficulties
• nightmares
• depression
• withdrawal
• anxiety
• chronic pain
• numbing out
• mood swings
• flashbacks
• hyperalertness

Sexual assualt takes place in a social and legal context which compounds the distress of the trauma. Commonly-held community beliefs which place the responsibility for the assault on the victim add to women's distress. The perpetrator of the assault is responsible for his behaviour not the victim. No one asks to be raped.

Sometimes victims' experiences with the legal system are negative: it appears all care is given to the rights of the alleged perpetrator but little is done to protect the rights of the victim.
It is important for women to know that it is possible to heal and move on from the trauma of sexual assault. Counseling and support services are available to deal with the disturbing after-effects of the assault.

|INDEX|

It can be helpful to know that you are not alone and to share your experience of recovering from sexual assault. E-mail your stories, your poems, your thoughts and opinions to be published on this page. To e-mail just click the button at the bottom of this page.

We have recieved some stories from people who have been abused, these are shown below with names and details changed to preserve their anonimity.

---

I am a young man who is a survivor of incest, which happened in my childhood. It is sometimes, still, very hard to speak of. My name is J, and by Christ's grace I am healing, but it is a long road. Nightmares, sometimes, still terrorize me. Thanks for listening. I do need to hear from other survivors. It would help me heal. God bless you, and do not give up hope.

---

Memorial Day will be the 15th anniversary from a very traumatic sexual assault. I had gone on a one day cruise with a friend and never got back on the ship ... was drugged, sexually assaulted and left alone by some docks. A very long, horrible story of how I finally got back to my home town, only to find broken ribs, burn marks and an incredibly bruised backside. I then had to have emergency surgery for a bad pap smear which they say had NOTHING to do with the assault, however, I had never had a bad one BEFORE nor AFTER! Needless to say, my so-called "friend" had given up trying to get me to "come to" and had left me taking a cab back to my home. I proceeded to go to the hospital, was required to contact the Crisis Center, and went into a deep, severe state of shock. My boyfriend called it quits, couldn't deal with my "not taking care of myself" attitude, my job where I was on a leave-of-absence gave me the "either work full time or leave" and I just GAVE UP! Quit eating for FIVE weeks, literally and was given the choice to go into a psychiatric hospital for either an EATING DISORDER or DEPRESSION. I told them I had NO EATING DISORDER than I just wanted to DIE ... anyway, 15 years later AND A RECOVERING BULIMIC, I just thought it was more than a coincidence to come across this website! As always there's a lot more of a description of the horrors of this trauma, but that's it in a nutshell! I have yet to say the "r" word and have been in therapy for years! Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and I are quite acquainted and unfortunately continue to carry the POOR BODY IMAGE which I'm sure is 99.9% from the assault!

People who have been through it are more likely to understand. Unlike my closest friend who said right after the assault, "well, if you were drugged and you don't remember anything, what's the big deal?" A LOT ... I still find myself in situations that cause a tremendous amount of hidden fear and panic!

---

|INDEX|

Here is a list of services in Queensland:

• Brisbane Sexual Assault Service 3636 5206
• Pine Rivers Sexual Assault Service 3205 4071
• Brisbane Rape and Incest Survivor Support Centre 3391 0004
• Jasper House Caboolture 5499 3066
• Logan 3808 9233
• Ipswich 3812 0138
• Sunshine Coast 5443 4711
• Gold Coast 5591 2397
• Zig Zag Young Women's Center 3843 1823
• WWILD Women With Intellectual Disabilities 3262 9877
• Murrigunyah ATSI Women's Center 3290 4254
• Immigrant Women's Support and Sexual Assault Program 3846 5400
• Sisters Inside (Women's Prisons) 3844 5066
• Toowoomba 4631 6950
• Wide Bay 4121 5999
• Bundaberg 4153 4299
• Rockhampton 4922 6585
• Mackay 4953 4722
• Centeral West 4958 3344
• Whitsunday 4946 5211
• Gladstone 4972 7404
• Cairns 4031 3590
• Emerald 4982 4358
• Mur Kosker Sorority Thursday Island 4069 1663
• Tableland 4091 4155
• Nth Qld Aitkenvale 4775 7555

|INDEX|

Here is a list of links that may be helpful:

• Domestic Violence Resource Center
• When Love Hurts
• Family and Domestic Violence Training Package
• Casa House
• Bekah's Tears In The Dark

|INDEX|