Just a warning, this question involves mentions of violence.
When I was 15 I was raped while passed out by a 20 year old man. He at first claimed he just fooled around, but months later I found out I was pregnant. I'm autistic and narcoleptic, I told the people around me but was basically told with my conditions I shouldn't have been drinking, so I was also to blame. I had the baby, my sin, the father was physically and verbally abusive, hardly ever showed up and after two years I sought legal advice from two lawyers.
The lawyers explained that they would help me prosecute for r**e charges but I had to be ready to lose and hand my child to visit with an angry abusive rapist. That scared me and I didn't take that risk as three visits a year (how often he showed up) sounded better than potentially fortnightly visits. So I got a DVO against him for two years, he just wasn't allowed at my house, we had visitation in public places instead. Oh and I should say, I was too scared to push for child support in case he harmed my son in revenge.
He kept only visiting between 3 and 5 times a year, when my son turned 13 I decided that he was old enough to communicate directly with his father who had a new family and was off drugs. The toll it took on me to communicate with my rapist was too much and, although accessible by email, I didn't want him to have my new phone number, just my son's. And that changed everything.
As soon as he discovered he didn't have my number he started contacting my son every day. My son is very awkward and uncomfortable around his father and asked me to make it stop. So I sent a cheery email to my son's step mother asking for things to slow down. It sped up. Today he messaged my son some gross lies about me. So I sent another email refuting his weird claims and asking for my son to be respected and for my privacy to be respected. His wife did not take kindly to that, called my son names (she doesn't know him) and treated me just terribly. My son feels unsafe and anxious around his erratic father and I feel extremely unsafe myself.
I am terrified about what they might do, and as an autistic person, I'm highly anxious. My question is, what are my rights here? How can I legally protect my son and myself without risking more fear and dire consequences? I'm at a loss, any help would be brilliant. Thank you for reading.
When I was 15 I was raped while passed out by a 20 year old man. He at first claimed he just fooled around, but months later I found out I was pregnant. I'm autistic and narcoleptic, I told the people around me but was basically told with my conditions I shouldn't have been drinking, so I was also to blame. I had the baby, my sin, the father was physically and verbally abusive, hardly ever showed up and after two years I sought legal advice from two lawyers.
The lawyers explained that they would help me prosecute for r**e charges but I had to be ready to lose and hand my child to visit with an angry abusive rapist. That scared me and I didn't take that risk as three visits a year (how often he showed up) sounded better than potentially fortnightly visits. So I got a DVO against him for two years, he just wasn't allowed at my house, we had visitation in public places instead. Oh and I should say, I was too scared to push for child support in case he harmed my son in revenge.
He kept only visiting between 3 and 5 times a year, when my son turned 13 I decided that he was old enough to communicate directly with his father who had a new family and was off drugs. The toll it took on me to communicate with my rapist was too much and, although accessible by email, I didn't want him to have my new phone number, just my son's. And that changed everything.
As soon as he discovered he didn't have my number he started contacting my son every day. My son is very awkward and uncomfortable around his father and asked me to make it stop. So I sent a cheery email to my son's step mother asking for things to slow down. It sped up. Today he messaged my son some gross lies about me. So I sent another email refuting his weird claims and asking for my son to be respected and for my privacy to be respected. His wife did not take kindly to that, called my son names (she doesn't know him) and treated me just terribly. My son feels unsafe and anxious around his erratic father and I feel extremely unsafe myself.
I am terrified about what they might do, and as an autistic person, I'm highly anxious. My question is, what are my rights here? How can I legally protect my son and myself without risking more fear and dire consequences? I'm at a loss, any help would be brilliant. Thank you for reading.
