⚠️ Content Warning
This episode contains open discussions about sexual assault, trauma, and the legal system's treatment of victim-survivors. Please take care of yourself first. If you're not in the right headspace, come back to this one when you're ready. There is no rush.
If you need support, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 (available 24/7) or visit 1800respect.org.au
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This week I sat down with Sarah Rosenberg, and this conversation genuinely stopped me in my tracks.
Sarah is a victim-survivor advocate and Executive Director of With You We Can, and her work sits at the intersection of lived experience and real legal and policy change. But before any of that, there is her story.
At 23, Sarah reported a violent assault by someone she had been dating. What followed wasn't just a legal process — it was a complete loss of control over her own story. Without her knowledge or consent, the defence accessed thousands of pages of her private medical and counselling records, including deeply personal notes from when she was a teenager. Doctors she hadn't seen in years were contacted. Sensitive details about her health and her life were read aloud in court. She describes it as a total free-for-all.
What is striking, and not widely understood, is that at no point was she automatically given a lawyer to represent her own interests throughout that process. For a long time, Sarah thought this was just her experience. It wasn't.
Now her work is dedicated to making sure others understand their rights, and pushing for the systemic protections that should have been there from the start. She speaks about all of it without polish — thoughtfully, honestly, and grounded in what it actually feels like to go through something like this.
This is a conversation about trust, agency, and what happens when the systems we assume will protect us simply don't. It is one of the most important episodes I have released, and I think it will stay with you.
In this episode we cover:
- Sarah's experience reporting a violent assault at 23
- The defence accessing thousands of pages of her private medical and counselling records without her consent
- What it felt like to have her most personal history read aloud in court
- Why victim-survivors are not automatically provided legal representation
- How she came to realise her experience was far from unique
- Her work as Executive Director of With You We Can
- The legal and policy changes she is fighting for
- What real agency and justice should look like for victim-survivors
- What she wants people to know about their rights
If this episode brought something up for you:
📞 1800RESPECT (sexual assault and family violence counselling)
1800 737 732 | 1800respect.org.au
📞 Lifeline
13 11 14 | lifeline.org.au
- Learn more about the justice system, and support Sarah’s advocacy at www.withyouwecan.org
- Follow With You We Can on IG @withyouwecan_ to better support someone who might need it
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