'For 20 years, I've tried to get police to investigate my sexual assaults. I'm still waiting for justice.'

Content warning: This story deals with rape and sexual violence and may be triggering for some readers.

Imagine a 14-year-old girl in your life.

She's a child — although she might not think so anymore. Carefree. She's just beginning to spread her wings and learn about the world as an individual.

Now imagine that girl was sexually assaulted. The unspeakable trauma. The impacts on her mental and physical health. The absolute betrayal of her sense of self, of safety, of trust.

You'd want the police to investigate, wouldn't you?

I would.

I do.

My name is Karen Iles. In 1993, when I was 14 and on a family holiday, I was subjected to multiple gang rapes and other sexual assaults by a notorious gang in both Queensland and New South Wales.

I was in year 8 at the time, and was initially flattered that there were these "surfer dudes" wanting to talk to me. But it quickly turned into something very, very different.

After returning from the holiday, my parents read my diary entries, where I detailed the abuse I'd suffered. The stress on my family — my parents and my brother — was palpable.

Watch: 3 major things people get wrong about trauma. Post continues below.

I was 24 when I walked into Newtown Police Station in the inner-west of Sydney. I had finally gathered the resilience and courage I needed to report these crimes to the police. It was such a daunting experience — I felt sick to my stomach with anxiety and the knowledge that I was going to have to relive the worst times of my life. I was determined to report to police so that something would be done. I wanted to make sure this didn't happen to another child. I wanted to protect all those other 14-year-old girls.

I did what I could to help the police. I told them the names, ages, descriptions, and other identifying features of perpetrators, names of witnesses, the identity of a co-victim and I provided contemporary evidence in the form of a childhood diary.

Everything I had held in shame, I shared in hope for justice. 

I was told there would be subsequent statements taken from me. I was told that NSW Police would be collaborating with Queensland Police to investigate my case.

But then, nothing happened. The police — in both states — did nothing.

When I would call to ask for an update on my case, they would take a message and say they'd call me back.

They rarely did.

I felt like my knees had been taken from under me. Every time.

In 2018, Queensland Police actually told me they'd destroyed my file, statement and evidence. I was devastated. I again told Queensland police details of the rapes. Unfortunately, they asked me to deal with NSW police.

I then went to Redfern Police Station in NSW and spent 90 minutes in an interview room with a sole male police officer reliving the raped again. This was the third time I had sat with NSW police officers and described in detail the rapes I endured as a child. It beggars belief that any human being could sit there, having heard my experience, and that they would then do nothing. 

In 2021, I complained to both Queensland and NSW Police Integrity Units — still no investigation. I didn't even receive an acknowledgement of my complaint in Queensland and now I've written submissions to the Queensland Inquiry into Police conduct. The explanation given to me by NSW police in late 2021 was that there was a "communication error".

Both the Queensland and NSW Police have since released statements stressing that I was erroneously told my evidence had been destroyed, and that the investigation is "pending" — 20 years after reporting. However, my original evidence from when I reported in 2004 is still yet to be found.

That drove me to think, "Well, fine, if the police are not going to listen and they're not going to stand by my side then the only person who is going to do this is me."

That's why I continue to share my story. I have a right to anonymity under law. I have chosen to waive this right because the system needs to change. 

The nature of the crimes against me are horrific and humiliating; both journalists and legal experts have described my rapes as "among the most serious gang sexual assaults ever reported to authorities in Australia". So, to share this and then have those who you turn to for help do nothing, is absolutely crushing.

I can find some of my rapists on Facebook.

No one has been charged. 

No one has been held accountable.

It's now 20 years since I first reported my horrific series of child sexual assaults. For the past two decades I have mostly sat and waited. Waited for the police to do something, anything.

In that time, my belief and respect for the police, and the justice system has crumbled. I have been able to process the assaults themselves in some way but it has been the police that have caused the most ongoing trauma. They have denied me not only justice but closure. 

I have since started a campaign called Make Police Investigate, as under current Australian Law there are no legal requirements for police to investigate reports of aggravated sexual assault. We need our lawmakers to create a legally enforceable duty of care — a duty for police to investigate to a minimum standard to victims of aggravated sexual assault and other serious crimes.

I'm a lawyer now. I grew up thinking that the police were there to protect us — and on reflection I now feel that was incredibly naïve. I want to use my personal and legal background to change the system, to change the law so that police are compelled to at the very least investigate allegations of child sexual assault.

It is distressing to know my story isn't alone in this country, that many are being failed by the institution that is supposed to protect them.

We saw this recently with the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes. That report was scathing about police conduct and their refusal to investigate issues related to crimes against gay men. Also, I have given evidence at the Federal Inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women and children. This issue around police accountability has been touched on in a few different forums. 

This month I have met with advisors from several Federal Minister's offices to speak about the aim to create a national set of principles to then guide the states and territories in their legislation. We saw with coercive control that the Federal Government stepped in, and the same needs to happen with sexual assault cases too. There needs to be a duty of care owed by police to victims of sexual assault.

It's up to all of us to demand better — we need to demand justice for all victims through fighting for a better system. 

I am simply calling for three reforms:

1. That police investigate all alleged child sex crime, and that this is reflected in law as duty of the police.

2. That police misconduct matters are investigated independently and officers be held accountable for their decisions. No more police investigating police.

3. That we create a national strategy to have a unified process no matter the state or territory. We demand that no woman or child is left behind by police failure, no matter where they live or where the assault occurs. 

No one else should have to go through what I have had to go through but I know others are — and this is not good enough.

What can you do?

For this change to happen, we need people's power and to demand better from our institutions. It doesn't take much to add your voice to the call for change.

• We have a petition you can sign here.
• Share this article you're reading right now.
• Send a letter to your MP.
• Write to any allied organisations that would add their voice to ours to call for change.

I've only ever wanted justice. I've only ever wanted for perpetrators of child sexual abuse to be held to account.

Keeping silent doesn't make it better. Keeping silent means that as a society we keep ignoring it, and when we ignore something, we're unable to achieve justice, we're unable to address the problem.

So, let's raise our voices. 

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When contacted by Mamamia, NSW Police said in November 2022 that the matter was referred to the State Crime Command's Sex Crimes Squad; investigations are ongoing. Queensland Police Service said detectives are currently conducting further inquiries in relation to this matter and police investigations continue.

Karen Iles is the Founder and Principal Solicitor of Violet Co Legal & Consulting, a Dharug woman who is passionate about the rights of women and Indigenous peoples. She is a survivor who wants to use her personal and professional background to campaign for legal and political reform of police duty of care. Karen is a Solicitor and Nationally Accredited Mediator.

If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. 

Feature Image: Supplied.