Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA)

[FloofenHoofen]

I recently made a claim for historic sexual child abuse which my father committed, he has since been sentenced.

I realised after speaking to CICA on many occasions that so far every person I've spoke to, they have all been men. Even the decision maker I spoke to, was male.
Does anybody know why the staff are mostly male? Has anybody ever spoken to a female?

I find it really uncomfortable discussing what happened with another man on the phone and because of the nature of it when I spoke to the decision maker I did end up having a mini breakdown and he sounded very uncomfortable which is understandable - I am just a stranger to him, but it really felt like he couldn't empathise at all. He tried to get me off the phone very quickly.

What are other people's experiences?

I'm sorry to put it in AIBU as well, I realise it's not the best place to put it but felt like there was more traffic here.

So sorry you've been through this OP. And I'm sorry I can't help but hopefully we can bump this so somebody can

Have you asked specifically to speak to a female employee?

I’m sorry that sounds very difficult. I agree with the previous poster that you should try asking for a female.

I haven't @WarrenNicole. I suppose that is something I could ask next time.

Hi. I work in law and deal with the CICA regularly. They do have plenty of female case workers so it may be worth you asking to be assigned a female case worker. Whether they will accommodate that though, I'm not sure. Good luck

@Justcallmebebes thank you. I wasn't sure if I could ask, I was just told it gets assigned to someone and that's it.
It doesn't feel like I have much control over who is dealing with my case.

It's already with a caseworker now but no idea who that is, I had to ring to find out and again spoke to another male.

This will be the last time they look at my case now as I have already declined their award and asked for a review - the previous decision maker missed out key information and then claimed it wasn't in my video interview when it was, cue me having a mini breakdown.
I feel like I'm fighting for it to be acknowledged all over again even when he's been sentenced, it's mad!