Terrified rape victim refused help in the rain

Outside the unlocked medical centre on the Torres Strait island of Mabuiag she could hear voices, laughter and wolf-whistles from her alleged attacker and his friends.

In the dark of February 5, the 27-year-old ran to the telephone connection - it had been deliberately turned off. She reconnected it, dialled the emergency number and it diverted to Cairns police, a thousand kilometres away.

She revealed how she had just been raped and that the alleged perpetrator was still outside her building with several of his drunken mates. He`d also stolen a bottle of vodka and she feared he would be back.

The police officer said he would immediately ring the community police officer on the island, but reported back to the victim that the local representative of the law had responded it was raining and he was not prepared to walk around to the crime scene in the rain, even though he was told the alleged perpetrator was still on the premises.

Desperate and frightened, the young woman crouched at the top of the darkened steps, gripping a crayfish spear, determined, if necessary, to stab the intruder to death when he returned to continue his cowardly assault.

The community police officer, only identified as Patterson, later rang a neighbour of the surgery and he came over to be with the nurse. Patterson turned up at 6.30am, after the rain stopped.

At 7.30am the victim rang her director of nursing on Thursday Island. The woman director told her the rape and burglary was unfortunate and that she should return to work at 9am.

The nurse said she wanted to be flown out and was told she could catch the only commercial flight at 11am. She replied that could not be done because police were coming (two hours by boat) from Thursday Island to inspect the crime scene and take her statement. They arrived at 12.30pm.

The nurse was told the next day when she repeated her request to be flown home to Sydney that she would be brought only to Thursday Island, no accommodation provided, no medical attention organised and that any days away would be deducted from her pay or leave.

It was made clear that Queensland Health did not consider the rape worthy of reporting and they were not prepared to help her.

The nurse mistakenly thought that Queensland Health, with helicopters, doctors, nurses, crisis counsellors, the Royal Flying Doctor Service on call and a Medivac helicopter available at Thursday Island, 30 minutes flight away, would activate an immediate response.

In fact, they cut off her pay from that day, and did not pay out her contract until last Friday after details were published in The Australian.

Queensland Health northern area general manager Ms Roxanne Ramsey explained that the nurse`s treatment was the result of "a local breakdown in communications in organising for her to be taken from the island".

What actually happened was that her boyfriend, who worked on Horn Island, had to fly in by helicopter on February 5, take her by boat the 40 minutes across Torres Strait to Badu Island where she received her first medical help and examination.

He then had to pay $800 to charter a plane to get her to Thursday Island by which time the Queensland Nurses Union had arranged for the department to fly her to Sydney.

Just weeks before the rape, a drunk on a nearby island punched a window and broke his wrist, and the department quite happily organised a Medivac helicopter at $13,000 an hour, to have him flown to Cairns.

Read more on this story at The Australian.

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