This report presents the results of research with strangulation victim-survivors conducted for our non-fatal strangulation review.

The report provides a platform for victim-survivors to voice their lived experiences of the criminal justice process following strangulation and express their views on what could be done to improve system responses. By understanding victim-survivor’s perspectives, we can improve the law, practice and procedure. The information in this report assisted the Queensland Law Reform Commission (‘QLRC’) to formulate the proposals and questions in our upcoming consultation paper.

We distilled five key themes from our research: • ‘They let me down’: Most victim-survivors had negative experiences with police. • ‘They ensured I was safe’: The victim-survivors had better experiences with medical and support services. • ‘The system does it to you all over again’: The criminal justice system re-victimised the victim-survivors. • ‘They don’t tell me anything’: The victim-survivors were not given sufficient information. • ‘Why can’t there be a better system?’: The victim-survivors think the system could respond better.

We discuss each of these themes below.