Shannon is campaigning for court proceedings to be improved for people with disabilities
All names and identifying details have been changed.
Participants have given us permission to share their experiences.
Shannon lives with a medical condition that affects her movement.
A man who was entrusted to help care for her sexually abused her.
Shannon lived with her parents and received additional support from someone who was considered ‘a good man’. Patrik was respected in the community.
But when Shannon was 11 years old, Patrik began to sexually abuse her while he was supposed to be looking after her in her home.
Shannon knew what he was doing was wrong, but she felt ashamed and that it was somehow her fault, so she didn’t tell anyone.The abuse continued until she was 16 years old.
During this time, Shannon began self-harming. She received some counselling at school in relation to her self-harming but because of her confusion about what was happening to her, she didn’t disclose the abuse.
She did have a social worker but only remembers seeing her once.
When Shannon was 16, she took an overdose and was referred for more counselling. This time, she did manage to tell her therapist about the abuse.
Shannon was interviewed and her mental capacity was assessed. The court case took a number of years, but eventually Patrik was found guilty and received a lengthy prison sentence.
The long delay in proceedings was partly due to the lack of disabled access in courtrooms. Shannon and her parents had to travel long distances, use back entrances to buildings due to accessibility issues, and sometimes wait in rooms that were unsuitable for Shannon, but were the only ones she could enter due to her medical condition.
Nearly a decade after the abuse ended, Shannon says ‘It still affects me now … it affects everything. The long-term effects are worse than the abuse’.
She suffers with depression and poor mental health, and she struggles with relationships.
Shannon is campaigning for courts to be more accessible. She would also like to see more support provided for victims and survivors, and she thinks there should be more space in court buildings for them to be kept separate from the people who have abused them.