TW- sensitive topic, abuse.

Animalloverb

I am just so Angry, fustrated and upset at the moment.
The way things were done was horrific, the way I was treated was horrifying. And even now, the way his release is being done is wrong and traumatic.

Verity

Hey @Animalloverb it sounds like you are going through a really difficult situation, thanks for reaching out here, it's great to know you are using the baords for support or even just to vent, we are here to listen. If you want to go into more detail please feel free, but by all means if it just feels better to put your emotions into words here, keep doing that.

Animalloverb

I appreciate it, but I'm not sure if I should go into more detail.

Animalloverb

I am beyond angry, I was abused and now the person who did it is getting released early, like the damage they caused has somehow expired. Like there is a return policy on trauma. I did my part, I survived, I testified, I told the truth and somehow I am still thr one serving a life sentence while they get a countdown to freedom. What makes me furious is how the system talks about this like it is paperwork. " time served", "good behaviour", "low risk". None of those words mean anything to my body when it freezes, or my brain when it spirals, or my life that was split cleanly in two (before and after) I don't get early release from fear. I Don't get parole from memories. I don't have a judge to decide I have suffered enough. The sentencing felt like the only moment where the system acknowledged what was done to me. And now even that is being walked back. It feels like the harm is being minimilised all over again but just dresses in legal language. Every year shaved off his sentence feels like the system telling me "Actually it wasn't that bad". What enrages me most is how invisible I have become once the offenders future is back on the table.Suddenly it is all about rehabilitation and second chances while I am expected to absorb the loss quietly. No one asks if I am ready for this. No one asks what it does to me to know the person who violated me will me walking free while I am still rebuilding myself from the wreckage they left behind.

This is not justice. It is abandonment. It is a system that claims to protect victims but flinches the moment that protection becomes inconvenient. I am not asking for cruelty. I am asking for accountability that actually means something. If the sentencing doesn't reflect the lifelong impact of abuse then the system is not broken by accident, it is broken by design.