Ann-Kristin Waitschekauski has lived with her trauma and fears for eight years. But you can’t see them from the outside – which is why they are still fighting for a so-called victim pension, which is actually due to victims of a crime.
When she has to talk about it, tears still come and her voice falters. At least that is how different (male) judges see it, after eight years everything should actually be processed and forgotten. For Ann-Kristin Waitschekauski from North Rhine-Westphalia, and presumably also for many other victims of sexual assault, no statement could be further from reality.
The 30-year-old has been suffering from anxiety for eight years, has to take medication and still does not dare to do many things alone. Go to a supermarket, see a doctor or take your dog for a walk. Nevertheless, she fought back an almost normal life with great determination: Ann-Kristin Waitschekauski has a good job, is now happily married and a mother. But does that mean your trauma no longer counts? That it should no longer burden and restrict them? In any case, the responsible Rhineland Regional Council (LVR) does not want to grant her a victim pension – although this would be just 130 euros a month.
A young woman fights for her rights
It happened in the spring of 2013 when the young woman wanted to have one last small party with a friend and two good acquaintances in an old apartment that had just been emptied after moving. There was a barbecue, actually it was a nice evening in the beginning. Then the perpetrator asked the young woman to come into the next room with him. She had known him well for almost five years and thought he wanted to talk. But he tried to kiss her. “It all happened very quickly,” she says. “I then pushed him away and said: Don’t be angry with me, but you’re a friend of mine. When I pushed him away, he hit me on the temple with his fist.”
She fell down and was briefly passed out. The perpetrator tore her shirt off, did not respond to her requests, and raped her. Nobody heard their cries for help because loud music was playing in the next room. The young woman was bloody injuries. After the fact, he just left her in the room. What Ann-Kristin Waitschekauski didn’t know: The other male acquaintance had tried to attack her friend. Fortunately, she was able to escape – and get help. The police came and took them to the station. Naked, just wrapped in a blanket. She was given a pelvic exam, “and then I came home and my old life was over.”
The perpetrator was caught
Ann-Kristin Waitschekauski at least didn’t have to fight because of the circumstances to be believed – but for almost everything else. She received no pastoral care, no psychological advice, no compensation for pain and suffering. She had to take care of a therapy place herself. She met the perpetrator again in court, almost bumped into him in the hallway because nobody made sure that he was kept at a distance. As a result, she vomited in the courtroom. “Even though you are 21, you are a small, vulnerable child,” she comments on the situation. After all, the perpetrator was sentenced to three years and three months in prison.
In their eyes a just punishment? “No,” says the now 30-year-old. It sounds bitter. Above all, it is a punishment that the man never had to serve: he packed his things and fled abroad. Waitschekauski later tracked down social media accounts from him, with photos in which he – possibly in the city of Donetsk – poses with weapons. “That’s really bad for me,” says the young woman. “He also knows where I live here.” She never had any evidence that the police were looking for him intensely, or are still looking.
The young woman is left alone after the crime
She doesn’t feel protected, she doesn’t feel understood, she doesn’t feel treated fairly. She is still suffering emotionally from everything that has happened. The so-called victim pension, officially victim compensation pension, is intended for people who have suffered “permanent damage to their health, causally attributable to the act of violence”. During a conversation with the “White Ring”, Waitschekauski was advised to apply for this. The first time it failed because the then 21-year-old, two months after the fact, was unable to “face an expert,” she says. “I just couldn’t do it.” She no longer wanted to talk about the crime, couldn’t even talk to her closest friends and relatives about it. “Lack of cooperation”, so the court – application rejected.
In 2015 she tried again, this time she was granted the pension – but only for one year. In the eyes of the LVR, the psychological problems that had been attributed to her in 2016 suddenly no longer existed in 2017. “Suddenly a healing from one day to the next,” comments the young woman sarcastically. Nobody had spoken to her beforehand, the termination of the pension payments was simply decided in some office. Ann-Kristin Waitschekauski had meanwhile met her current husband, who supported her. She decided to pull together all her strength and file a lawsuit against the LVR.
Ann-Kristin Waitschekauski continues to fight
The odyssey was only just beginning. “The lawsuit was dismissed,” she reports. The verdict contains strange sentences such as “The plaintiff can motivate herself to take part in sporting activities at home”, “The plaintiff drives her own car”, “There are friends too”. None of this refutes the fact that Ann-Kristin Waitschekauski is still unable to do many things on her own, suffers mentally, has fears and takes medication. But in the eyes of many – especially male – outsiders, she just doesn’t seem suffering enough. “It’s been eight years but it’s a struggle for me to get up every morning,” she says. But only her husband sees that.
The young woman, who simply wanted her right, has continued to fight since then, despite insults, frustration and incomprehension. “I can understand that many women give up,” says Waitschekauski, “I would have given up thirty times if my husband and the rest of my friends hadn’t kicked my butt hard.” When her lawsuit was rejected at the court in Aachen, the judge said to her: “Ms. Waitschekauski, if you had to sit in a wheelchair, you would have no arms, no legs, then that would be an obvious consequential damage to the act of violence. “Tears come to her when she says this. Her consequential damage is emotional and invisible, therefore apparently nonexistent for the court.
Mental traces are not immediately visible
Your motivation “It’s not about these 130 euros, it’s about the fact that this is a very big step for me, and for many others. Something definitely has to change.” This is exactly why she went public with her case and is very active on social media. Follow Ann-Kristin Waitschekauski on Instagram now around 36,000 people. “I get such lovely news. That I’m not only fighting for myself, but for everyone else. It’s unbelievable what you get in return. I don’t want to give up, I don’t want us to be treated that way anymore.” She knows that she is fighting a fight that many other victims do not have the strength to fight. “Many don’t even dare to advertise.”
She has appealed and wants to continue fighting in court. Not for 130 euros a month – but for respect for the emotional consequences of sexual violence, for the recognition of the suffering that follows such brutal acts. Even after eight years. She has also written a book about her fate. “I’m not a victim” will be published by Nibe this winter.
This article originally appeared on stern.de.