Navy rape survivor hails Defence Force promise to talk first with victims, rather than fighting them through the courts

Tuesday, 4 December 2018

Tracey Thompson, left, Karina Andrews and Cherie Ham are speaking out against Robert Roper.

The Defence Force is looking to deal face-to-face with victims of sexual harassment and abuse rather forcing them into expensive and confrontational court battles.

The assurance came from Chief of Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Clark, in a private meeting with survivors of convicted Air Force rapist Robert Roper.

'One of the things we agreed at the meeting was that having victims/survivors going to and through court can be a damaging and retraumatising experience, and if there are ways of avoiding that then I want to look at the options,' Clark said.

Hayley Young cried when she found out the Defence Force was changing its approach to dealing with victims of sexual assault.

The assurance was immediately hailed as a breakthrough by Hayley Young, the former naval officer who was raped while on deployment to Britain in 2009. Young has been fighting a long and expensive legal battle in the courts for compensation from both the Royal Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy.

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Young cried 'tears of relief' when advised of the pledge, which she said had the potential to be a 'massive breakthrough' in her case.

'I asked them multiple times to talk to me, before and after I got a lawyer,' Young said. 'I thought it would go straight to mediation.'

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern sent a shot across the bows of the Defence Force, saying their lawyers would not be seeking compensation from a vulnerable sex attack victims for court costs.

Young was sexually harassed while on secondment on a Royal Navy ship, male officers bet buckets of KFC on which female officers could be sexually 'conquered', and she was raped.

After a meeting with Tracey Thompson, her sister Karina Andrews and their friend Cherie Ham, all victims of Air Force sex predator Robert Roper, the New Zealand Defence Force has vowed to talk first with the victims of sexual assault before fighting them through the courts.

This week, she said she was excited by the development, which had given her new hope. 'This feels like the first time in four years that they're willing to talk to me rather than fight me. I cried when I heard they are considering treating me as a human, not the enemy.'

The daughters of Air Force rapist Robert Roper, Karina Andrews and Tracey Thompson, along with fellow victim Cherie Ham, asked for the meeting to discuss the way the New Zealand Defence Force was fighting former employees in historical sexual harassment cases.

The three women took a personal letter from Young to the meeting and asked Clark to act. They also raised the case of former airwoman Mariya Taylor, who was repeatedly sexually attacked and locked in a cage by Robert Roper when she worked for him at the Whenupai base in the 1980s. Taylor sued Roper and the NZDF this year for failing to keep her safe, and lost when it was ruled she'd brought the case outside the time limit allowed. She then faced a demand for more than $200,000 in court costs, and feared she would lose her house.

A lengthy investigation by Stuff prompted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to intervene and pledge the Defence Force would not pursue Taylor for the money.

The Defence Force dropped its demand for costs, but Roper, who is serving a 13-year sentence for the rape and sexual assault of his daughters, Cherie Ham and others, is still asking for $57,000 from Taylor. Friends have set up a Givealittle crowdfunding campaign to help Taylor meet legal costs.

Thompson, Andrews, and Ham said they were all 'appalled' by the Defence Force's treatment of Taylor, but encouraged by Andrew Clark's pledge. 'He was totally open to our ideas, and I believe him', Thompson said. 'But we've told him, if he doesn't deliver, we'll be holding him to account.'

Thompson and Andrews also said they are considering legal action under victims claims rules, to make sure their father gets none of Mariya Taylor's money.

'There is no way we'll allow him to do that to her. To think that after what he put her through, he deserves her money? The cheek of it,' Andrews said.