After Catherine Dunn was sexually assaulted in her university residence, she felt like she was "talking to a wall" when she went to seek help.
Warning: This story contains details of abuse which some readers may find distressing.
The 22-year-old Deaf woman from rural Victoria was not offered the services of an Auslan interpreter as part of support services.
"I thought, 'Where can I go? Who can I tell?' My parents live far away from me … I use Auslan to communicate," she said.
She gave evidence to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability that this was her second sexual assault after having moved to Melbourne for a "better education". The other assault occurred at a party when she was a teenager.
"I felt like I was just talking to a wall when I went to access services," Ms Dunn said.
"They [support services] didn't understand my language needs."
Ms Dunn, a Deaf and disability advocate, was one of more than 20 witnesses who gave evidence over the five-day hearing in Hobart.
The week focused on the lived experience of girls and women with disability, who face physical and sexual violence at higher rates than those without disability.
Ms Dunn was sexually assaulted by a fellow member of the Deaf community.
After her testimony, Ms Dunn told the ABC about the "burden" of being a Deaf woman accessing services and the systemic issues around sex education and consent within the Deaf community.
"I was the one that had to educate the [Deaf] people that perpetrated against me … I had to explain to him why it was an issue and I had to educate him," Ms Dunn said.
"We need to learn about trauma-informed care and support. This needs to be a daily conversation."
Woman assaulted in respite centre not believed by staff
The hearing also examined the responses from police and other organisations to women with disability who reported violence.
A woman, known to the royal commission as Niky, told how she was sexually assaulted at an Anglicare respite centre she attended in Brisbane in 2018.
At the time of the attack, Niky, who lives with the rare developmental disability Smiths-Magenis syndrome, had attended the centre three days a week for two years.
She told the hearing some of the centre staff did not believe she had been assaulted.
"It made me feel unsafe at the centre... one of them [the staff] tried to tell me it didn't happen," she said.
The client who attacked Niky was later charged and pleaded guilty.
Niky's mother told the hearing they had not received any offer of support from Anglicare following the assault.
"The only thing that happened was that two long-term workers who had known [Niky] since she first went there, let us know they were absolutely mortified," Niky's mum said.
Anglicare Southern Queensland service manager Carolyn Cumming tearfully apologised to Niky and her family, after admitting the group "didn't manage it very well".
"I know that Anglicare and me personally have learnt from this," Ms Cumming said.
"I just want to offer my deepest apology to Niky and her family for not fully engaging and supporting them as required and needed."
Ms Cumming said she would take the issue of redress for Niky and her family to the Anglicare board.
'We see you': Woman tells of abuse during her youth
The commission also heard evidence from Ally Robins, a transgender woman living with dyslexia, chronic pain syndrome, gender dysmorphia and PTSD.
Ms Robins, who grew up in the United States, told the royal commission she had experienced violence whilst growing up and "intimate partner abuse" as an adult.
She came from a family of women who had experienced "intergenerational trauma", and her mother had been emotionally abusive.
At school she was called a "dirty rotten kid" by a principal and received "verbal abuse" for her dyslexia.
Ms Robins told the hearing she tried to take her own life a number of times before she was 16 years old.
After speaking to one of her parents about her gender, she "ended up in conversion therapy" for two years, which left her a "mess".
"No-one cared, no-one wanted to listen and I felt worthless… I felt like it wasn't worth living."
When she came to Australia 20 years ago, Ms Robins said her life began to improve.
"I would like to say to my abuser, I got up when you knocked me down," Ms Robins said.
Ms Robins is now a published author and works with various advocacy organisations in Tasmania.
"To all the abusers, I would like to say we see you, we know your secrets," she said.
"We know your excuses and the lies you tell… we will turn on the lights and demand accountability and consequences for your actions."
How autistic women can be 'taken advantage of'
The royal commission heard that autistic women often felt like "outcasts" and had a "particular set of vulnerabilities that put them at risk of becoming victims of violence and abuse".
Victorian woman Katie Koullas, who established the autistic-led non-government charity Yellow Ladybugs in 2015, said autistic women did not deserve to be "isolated" or "shamed".
"We are invisible as our disability is largely hidden," Ms Koullas said.
"A significant and known vulnerability for our community is being taken advantage of in relationships, often through our adaption of social skills … our often high ability to mask."
An autistic woman known to the hearing as Nikita gave evidence that she was sexually abused at four years old.
She said the man had called her a "doll" and after the assault she destroyed her own dolls by cutting off their hair and drawing on them with black marker.
"I completely shut down afterwards and was unable to tell anyone what had happened," she said.
Nikita told the inquiry she was raped by her father's friend at 10 and then "groomed" by a sports coach at 13.
"I was very lonely at the time, didn't fit in at home and was bullied at school," Nikita said.
She told the inquiry she was "working hard" to heal from "past traumas".
"It's a long and often painful process."
