A woman who was allegedly raped by a Dunedin man has told a court she was isolated and simply "gave in" to his advances.
The second of three complainants in the sex trial of Jahmin Mauna McNeill-Hulme (24) appeared yesterday in the Dunedin District Court to describe a sexually abusive relationship between them.
In her police interview from September 2020, which was played to the jury, the woman told Detective Annie Sullivan that she met the defendant at a party in 2019 and they entered into a relationship not long after.
"He wouldn’t leave me alone. Like he was always around ’cause he didn’t really have a job," she said.
She paid for the majority of two vans they purchased, the first of which broke down.
The second vehicle was where McNeill-Hulme allegedly committed sex acts against the other two complainants.
They lived in the vans during their relationship, travelling between Dunedin and Christchurch so she could work there.
However, the jury heard how their relationship turned sour as she told of verbal abuse from McNeill-Hulme and months of sexual pressure.
"There were a lot of occasions where I felt pressured to have sex with him. Not every time was consensual," she told Crown prosecutor Robin Bates.
She said McNeill-Hulme wanted to have sex every day, and when she said no, he would either pleasure himself beside her or keep asking.
"When I said no to him, that was like a challenge, like he would try to get a yes out of me," she said.
There were two instances of particular focus in the trial where she alleged she did not consent to intercourse.
However, she accepted both times she did not recall explicitly telling him no, or saying their safe word "pineapple".
"That was a conversation in your head," counsel Anne Stevens QC suggested.
"I think if I’m thinking something, it’s very evident in my body language," replied the complainant.
She did not agree she was a consenting participant in those instances.
"If I feel like I’ve been persuaded into agreeing into something, that’s not giving consent on my behalf. It’s never that he held me down and viciously did anything, it’s crossing lines ... and not respecting me in general," she said.
When asked why she did not leave, the complainant said she did not feel like she had anywhere to go because she had just moved to Dunedin and McNeill-Hulme isolated her.
"He wanted to control me, he didn’t let me have a moment alone ... he was with me every moment that he could. That’s not a relationship, that’s control."
He had also threatened self-harm if she were to leave their relationship.
Mrs Stevens suggested that since the woman was making so many criticisms of McNeill-Hulme, that the rest of her memories, of consensual sex with him, were being distorted.
"He’s given me very little to think positively about," she testified.
"I would describe our relationship as many things but I wouldn’t say loving."
The woman accepted she could have done things differently as she was uncomfortable in the relationship.
However, she said when one was in a situation like she was "you give up, you just let things happen because it’s easier; doesn’t mean I consent, means I give in".
The trial continues.
