18-year-old victim of violent attack sings praises of one-stop service

Sitting in a RainLily centre, sexual-violence victim Ann smiles, but she was not always so relaxed.

When the 18-year-old went to RainLily, she was traumatised after a sexual assault and attempted rape by a classmate. After the attack in February, she went to police, but says their repeated questioning just forced her to keep reliving the experience.

Ann called the Social Welfare Department, but was advised to talk to her family, which she did not want to do. Then she found RainLily.

'RainLily has helped me so much. I feel so safe in their centre. It is like a hidden place. No one can see me,' she said. 'Their social worker counselled me, and helped me report [the attack] to police and make a statement.'

Now, the Form Six student is worried that more women will be victimised by being forced to use the 'problematic' government service. She said they would be further traumatised in hospital cubicles that have no doors and are closed only with curtains.

'The hospital is a public place and there are so many people hearing the conversations. As they can see so many policemen surrounding the victim, they would know what has happened.'