by A woman who was raped by her father has faced a catalog of misogynistic police failures during her four-decade fight for justice.
Elliot Appleyard, from West Yorkshire, repeatedly raped and abused Carol Higgins, from West Yorkshire, when she was a teenager – and her 77-year-old father has now been convicted of five counts of rape and 10 counts of assault obscene back in 2019.
West Yorkshire Police have now made a major U-turn and finally apologized to Ms Higgins for the long wait for her father’s conviction.
Speaking to The Independent In an exclusive interview, Miss Higgins said that when she first reported her father to the police for raping her in 1984, an officer told her if the case went to court, “you’ll be found to be the biggest liar and scumbag ever”. took effect”.
The 54-year-old said: “Because of their failure to investigate, I have had to fight continuously to ensure that rape faces criminal justice.”
Ms Higgins said the police apology was the first time in 39 years West Yorkshire Police had admitted her father’s offenses were not dealt with “effectively and swiftly”.
The mother-of-two has been in a four-year civil court battle with the police, accusing her of breaching her human rights – resulting in an apology and a £15,000 compensation payment.
Miss Higgins said it took police over 30 years to take her claims seriously as she reported her father’s abuse on five separate occasions from 1984 to 2015.
She said: “The constant fighting and pressure has affected my mental and physical health.”
John Robins, chief constable of West Yorkshire Police, apologized in a letter, which saw The Independentwith a long wait for her father’s conviction, as well as an admission that the investigating officer who oversaw the case in 2015 had not completed his training.
“Communication should be more frequent and clearer,” his letter says. “It is recognized that this failure has aggravated your suffering and distress and it is accepted that you tried to raise this, but did not attend to it. It is accepted that derogatory language was used about you during the investigation and that officers made comments that should never have been made.”
A spokesman for the force told The Independent: “The chief constable apologized directly to the complainant on behalf of West Yorkshire Police and gave his personal assurance that the force had learned from the mistakes made in her case.”
I first reported my dad to the police for raping me in 1984, when I was 15. I had to make a 17-page statement and pass internal forensic tests. They had me jumping up and down on blotting paper and I was bleeding internally
Carol Higgins
Miss Higgins added: “This re-traumatised me and added to my suffering, caused me significant further distress and unnecessarily delayed my recovery.”
It comes as West Yorkshire Police and the Independent Office for Policing said there was no need to learn or improve after her case.
Her father was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexual offenses committed when Miss Higgins was between 14 and 15 years old.
Miss Higgins, who has written two books about her experiences, explained how she is “shocked” by her father’s release from prison in a few years’ time after he had previously threatened to kill her.
“I saw him gun my mother saying he’s going to kill her and split her with machetes from her vagina to her neck,” she said. “He committed domestic abuse against her.”
Her father normalized his sexual abuse of her by claiming that all fathers “break in on their daughters” and telling her that some of his friends were living as husband and wife with their -daughters, she said. Miss Higgins said she had to wear her father’s wife’s engagement ring.
Miss Higgins recalled: “I first reported rape to the police in 1984, when I was 15 years old. I had to make a 17 page statement and pass internal forensic tests. They had me jumping up and down on blotting paper and I was bleeding internally.
“While I was still in the police station an officer told me ‘if this goes to court your name will be blackened and dragged through the mud and you will be found out to be the biggest liar and slag. Can you handle this?’”
The abuse meant she lost her father, her childhood, her “innocence and sense of self-worth”, she said, explaining how she was forced to live alone aged just 16 “in a house cold for rent and scared without fear. someone to turn to”.
Ms Higgins, who says she lost count of the number of times the police accused her of lying, was diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and underwent years of therapy, she said.
“I’m having a nightmare,” she said. “If I see someone on the street who looks like him, I panic and sweat.”
Miss Higgins said she is keen to raise awareness of paternal rape because it is still “taboo” and “an ugly or sensitive subject that people don’t want to think about or accept that it happens”.
“If you don’t trust your mom and dad to protect and love you, who else will?” she said.
Rape Crisis offers support to those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn at 800-656-HOPE (4673)
