The mother of an alleged teenage rape victim, who left a Queensland hospital in tears after waiting hours to be examined, has welcomed the health minister’s intervention to ensure victims are seen within 10 minutes.
Shannon Fentiman on Friday announced she will issue a ministerial directive to ensure the state’s 26 reporting hospitals are obliged to see women presenting at emergency departments seeking forensic examinations for sexual assault within 10 minutes.
It is the first time a health minister has issued a ministerial directive under the Hospital and Health Boards Act since the legislation was passed in 2011.
The announcement comes after a Guardian Australia report in October revealed how an alleged teenage rape victim was left humiliated and suicidal after her treatment in hospital.
The 17-year-old left the hospital without undergoing an examination after waiting three hours and initially being told there were no trained staff available to perform one.
The alleged victim’s mother, Stephanie*, said she was proud of her daughter for speaking out and advocating for change.
“[Tilly*] was quite anxious and frustrated waiting three hours,” she told Guardian Australia. “She’s very courageous, I am very proud of her.
“Remember Dolly and [the anti-bullying campaign that said] ‘Speak up even if your voice shakes’? I think that’s a good representation of Tilly as well.”
New forensic medical examination kits were rolled out to all Queensland hospitals from June after the state’s Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce last year documented delays in treatment for alleged victims of sexual assault and recommended that Queensland Health improve the quality of rape kits.
However, delays in their distribution and training for staff saw a number of cases emerge of women not receiving timely care.
In October, Fentiman described the delays as “completely unacceptable”.
On Friday, she went a step further.
The directive means patients are to be treated as category two patients, and require hospitals to ensure trained staff are available to administer forensic tests 24 hours a day.
In their next annual report, Queensland health services must also explain the action they’ve taken to follow the ministerial directive.
Fentiman said she had “repeatedly” made her “expectation clear that victims of rape and sexual assault are treated in a timely and trauma-informed way”.
“Unfortunately, on too many occasions, this has failed to happen.
“That is why I have taken this step of issuing a ministerial directive under the legislation to ensure that our public hospitals are appropriately caring for victims.”
* Names have been changed
• Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
