'You cant put an expiry date on rape"': the story of Louise and Jenna - Jenna Tuke and 'Louise'

This perspective is co-written by Louise (who prefers not to use her real name), a survivor of a rape perpetrated by a stranger in 1954, and Jenna, a counsellor and advocate who works at CASA House (Centre Against Sexual Assault) in Melbourne, Australia. The two women met when Louise contacted CASA House to speak for the first time about the sexual assault.
Louise tells how her life, at 17, was irrevocably changed by sexual assault and about the reaction of her Catholic family in the context of Australian society in the 1950s. Louise became pregnant as a result of this rape. She survived the next 50 years by blocking out the reality of how sexual assault had altered the trajectory of her life. At the age of 66 'the blind came up' and she became overwhelmed by memories and grief for what had been stolen from her.
Jenna speaks about her experience of working with Louise, employing the dual roles of counsellor and advocate. Together, they talk about a little-known legal loophole entitling some survivors of sexual assault in Victoria, Australia, to compensation, even when the crime was perpetrated long before Victims of Crime legislation was introduced in 1973.
From: Agenda 74 (2007)