Nina (not her real name) had been abused and assaulted as a child in her home country of Iran. She still lived with the fear of telling anyone but now, as an adult, she wanted to be braver. And so, when a nurse allegedly sexually assaulted her while she was in hospital after attempting suicide on Nauru, she decided to report it.
The Guardian’s publication of the Nauru files shows she was one of many victims to receive an inadequate response from the system charged with her care.
In a police statement Nina describes coughing and feeling nauseous and having blurred vision. While lying on a bed as two male nurses in the detention centre tried to put a needle in her arm, she alleges, she felt one of them place his genitals in her hand.
“I could distinctly feel it but I was not in a position to move my hand or to complain to anyone,” she told police.
Nina said the encounter brought back memories of her childhood assaults. “At the moment I feel very overwhelmed, I cannot sleep at night, I get a lot of nightmares,” she said. “While I sleep I dream that someone is trying to assault me but I feel helpless, my voice doesn’t come out and I can’t push the person away.”
The alleged assault occurred in mid 2014 and there has been no apparent resolution through either the police investigation or that by the Australian government’s service providers.
Nina’s story has been pieced together from documentation in the Nauru files, a cache of more than 2,000 leaked incident reports published by the Guardian. The reports are written by guards, caseworkers and teachers about the trauma caused to asylum seekers held on the remote Pacific island of Nauru. They also contain the voices of those detained.
Nina said she have requested CCTV footage from the emergency department but was told by a representative of IHMS, the health service provider in the detention centre, that cameras were switched off “for the purpose of maintaining confidentiality”.
“The manager of IHMS just told me, ‘Sorry all cameras are off,’ and that they are always [off],” she told the Guardian.
“After that just one time I went to the police station to fix my statement about that day, then after that nothing. No follow from police, no follow from Wilson or IHMS. They didn’t give me any answers.”
A spokeswoman for IHMS said they could not comment on the operation of CCTV in the hospital, and that administration of the hospital was not its responsibility, but that cameras in the IHMS clinic do not operate during treatment for privacy reasons.
She reported the alleged assault to two separate caseworkers. She “stated that she is scared if she reports this she would be accused of lying”, one said.
The second noted that Nina said she felt “very unsafe and uncomfortable”.
Faced with a barrage of assault allegations from and about detainees – and with limited resources and scant experience – Nauru’s police have struggled. In Nina’s case, as for all cases relating to sexual assault involving the detention centre, no one has been charged.
In November Transfield acknowledged Nina’s complaint. A letter from the company noted the allegation was in the hands of the Nauruan police but instructed her to submit a request form if she wished to speak with IHMS further and assured her there would be a meeting within 72 hours.
“We consider your complaint resolved, however if you should be disatisfied with our handling of the complaint please contact your case manager, a client services officer, or relevant external third party,” it concluded.
A second letter three days later clarified it was “only the DIBP complaint that was closed”.
IHMS said it had been made aware of the incident soon after it was alleged to have occurred, and met with Nina six days later.
“IHMS investigated the alleged incident but no IHMS employee fitting the description given by the patient was able to be identified by IHMS,” she said.
The spokeswoman said the matter was referred to the immigration department, Wilson Security, and the Nauru police force, and Nina had not requested another interview.
Nina’s voice carries through the Nauru files. They show that this encounter was not the only time she was allegedly targeted by a detention centre staff member.
In August and September 2014 Nina reported to Save the Children that she and a friend had been sexually harassed by a group of Wilson Security guards. While the pair were waiting at a bus stop the group laughed at them and made lewd gestures, she said. She later claimed that one of them had exposed his genitals. After two months she had received no response and asked why she was still seeing the staff member around the centre.
She later said she was fearful for her safety after “threatening or slimy” comments from the guards, who had intimidated her.
Nina still had no resolution to either the complaint against the IHMS nurse or the Wilson guards, she told a caseworker in October.
“I am still thinking about ending my life, but I am scared that they will mistreat my dead body,” the report describes her telling a caseworker.
“I am trying to think of a perfect solution. People think that if I am smiling or if I look like I am OK, that I am feeling OK, but I am not.”
Nina told her story to Philip Moss during the former integrity commissioner’s review into serious allegations of sexual assault and abuse on Nauru, and thought that might have some effect. But despite the fact she was granted refugee status six months ago, Nina says she remains in the tents in Nauru’s detention centre, as there is not enough housing in the community.
Nina’s allegation about the nurse is one of dozens of claims of sexual assault over the 26-month period covered by the Nauru files. At least 16 serious allegations were not declared to the Australian Senate inquiry in 2014.
Moss noted in his report that he could not be sure he had been made aware of every incident of sexual or other physical abuse.
“For family and cultural reasons, some incidents are not reported,” he wrote. “Yet as has been observed by a contract service provider staff member, information usually flows freely about incidents and situations in the centre.”
It is suspected Nina has another long-term medical condition and she is seeking further medical care. She was flown to Australia for treatment for a few months last year. Late last year she accused Wilson guards of strip-searching her – a claim denied by the immigration department.
There has been no progress in the police case and Nina doesn’t know what happened to either the IHMS nurse or the the Wilson guard from the bus stop. She hasn’t seen them for some time but no one told her if they had been disciplined or even questioned.
“Everything in here is cover [up],” she says. “We write complaints and they don’t care.”
Wilson Security and the Nauru police were contacted for comment, but did not respond.
• If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au
