Royal Prince Alfred Hospital clinic a sanctuary for sexual assault survivors

In the basement of one of Sydney’s busiest hospitals is a little-known safe space for victims of some of the most horrific crimes.

With more brave women than ever before reporting sexual assaults, the clinic hidden in the basement of one of Sydney’s busiest hospitals is now needed more than ever. Behind the soundproof doors of the sexual assault clinic beneath Royal Prince Alfred Hospital is an oasis of calm where about 350 victims every year share their stories.

In the year to September 2021, almost 7500 sexual assaults were reported in NSW, according to the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. Sexual assault and domestic violence were the only two crimes to have risen over the past five years, with a 6 per cent increase in rape victims going to police.

The RPA clinic is a little-known safe space for victims of some of the most horrific crimes. At this hidden bolthole, no one is turned away.

Frontline workers from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital sexual assault clinic Lisa Simpson, Rachel Thomas and Neeraja Sanmuhanathan. Picture: Toby Zerna

A HAVEN OF HOPE

The decor is sparse for forensic and clinical reasons but the clinical white of the hospital and the bright colours of waiting ambulances are replaced with a large lounge with lavender walls, the occasional vase of artificial flowers, along with a nook for tea and coffee.

There are two rooms with medical examination beds with elevated footrests – like something out of the hospital’s maternity ward – where patients who consent are examined for their injuries, marks which may later act as evidence in a courtroom.

Lisa Simpson and Neeraja Sanmuhanathan at the clinic. Picture: Toby Zerna

And to the right is a counselling room where the unseen scars of the attacks are revealed to psychiatrists by shaken survivors.

TAKING THE FIRST STEP

From victims who wake up naked and disorientated in somebody else’s house to those who clearly remember every horrific moment of being brutally attacked, Emergency Department nurse unit manager Cate Simpson has seen it all.

“Maybe they’ve woken up in somebody’s house and found they don’t have any clothes on, and they are not too sure what has happened and so they are seeking guidance,” she said. “Right through to the extreme cases where people have been sexually assaulted and have sustained heavy head injuries and abdominal injuries.”

Some victims come drug or alcohol affected and struggle to give consent, while others wait until they are alone with a nurse to reveal their ordeal.

BACK FROM THE BRINK

Many sexual assault victims who meet Rachel Thomas fear they have no options but the forensic doctor’s job is to prove them wrong – supporting them through treatment, contacting the police, seeking justice or an abortion.

Dr Thomas said most of the assaults she saw were women who had been vaginally raped by men.

RPA’s sexual assault clinic is a little-known safe space for victims of some of the most horrific crimes. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

Once a patient is medically cleared and consents for a forensic exam, she begins collecting evidence to empower the victim’s case, even if they choose to later destroy the samples.

Dr Thomas then conducts a “head to toe survey” identifying everything from cuts, bruises and bites, taking photographs and capturing DNA left by the perpetrator.

FIGHTING FEAR

The other arm of RPA’s sexual assault service lies with the counselling service where manager Lisa Simpson and senior sexual assault counsellor Neeraja Sanmuhanathan work to dispel one of the most challenging parts of being a sexual violence survivor – the fear that you won’t be believed.

“One of the big things that come up are around questions of will I be believed? Our role is to reaffirm what happened is not OK, it’s not their fault,” Dr Sanmuhanathan said.

Ms Simpson said her team provided ongoing counselling for the clients – and for many, this was the only source of support they had.

The stories told to them are often the rawest version of events – a far cry from what might be spoken in court, and yet their testimony rarely gets used in criminal proceedings.

REACHING OUT

Sexual violence workers have called for extra funding as more women than ever are reporting rapes while waiting lists for counselling have blown out.

FullStop Australia CEO Hayley Foster said it was important every local health area continued to provide a 24/7 sexual assault clinic like the one at RPA which could provide counselling as well as forensic services.

“We need people to be able to access these services across the state,” she said.