Claire McFarlane is celebrating a deeply personal achievement, 16 years after a vicious rape and bashing in Paris that left her clinging to life.
She has fought against a complex and costly justice system, learnt French and helped put out pamphlets in English for victims of sexual assault in France.
In 1999, Ms McFarlane, then a 21-year-old aspiring artist, was dragged into a lane near the bar where she worked. She was raped, beaten, cut with a flick-knife, and left for dead.
Last week, she gave a heartfelt statement in French to an appeals court in a long-running bid to secure victim's compensation.
"It has cost me a great deal to be a victim in France," she told the judge.
"On a financial level, I have had to pay for everything, including all medical and legal costs.
"On a psychological level, I have had to fight non-stop for my rights as a victim. I have never felt protected in France," she said.
She told the court how, in Australia and her native South Africa, a victim is a witness for the state and does not have to pay legal fees to be a party to the proceedings.
During her ordeal, Ms McFarlane spent three months in hospital and racked up thousands of dollars in medical bills.
In the months after the attack, she could hardly communicate with the police and the justice system because she was barely fluent in French.
She was not offered an interpreter, and the Australian consulate could offer only minimal help.
She returned to Australia, where she tried to rebuild her life.
The French police then shelved the case.
But almost a decade later, a DNA match identified Cameroonian-born French citizen Eric Priso-Nseke Mouelle as the attacker.
Mouelle had sexually assaulted another young woman in the same location weeks before he attacked Ms McFarlane, but police had not made it public.
Ms McFarlane had to fly to Paris at her own expense, had to engage her own lawyer and estimates she spent $30,000 on legal fees and associated expenses before and during the 2½-year-long proceedings.
In November 2011, Mouelle was sentenced to 12 years' jail with a non-parole period of five years for both offences. He was released after serving less than four years.
"No victim should have to be dragged through a brutal legal system years after their perpetrator has been prosecuted," Ms McFarlane told Fairfax Media.
On legal advice, she filed a claim for civil damages to the criminal prosecution.
The cour d'assises awarded her some compensation, but the bureaucrats overseeing the scheme disputed the payout because of a "wording error".
She decided to appeal and, since 2013, has travelled to Paris three more times for court hearings.
"It was important for me to go ahead with the criminal proceedings," she told the judge last week.
"I fulfilled my civic duty, despite being a foreigner in France. I also took a dangerous man off the streets of Paris.
"But now I am exhausted. It has been 16 years that I have lived with this trauma: all of my adult life.
"I want the right to live another life. I want to turn the page."
A decision will be handed down in October.
A photo posted by ClairesExtraordinaryAdventures (@clairesextraordinaryadventures) on Jun 11, 2015 at 1:58pm PDT
Ms McFarlane has also grown into a passionate advocate for victims' rights.
She learnt last week that a Parisian women's organisation she teamed up with has created English information pamphlets that will be made available to tourist information centres, hotels and consulates.
Having vastly improved her oral and written French, Ms McFarlane contributed both to the translation and the advice contained in the leaflets.
"Rape statistics in France are very high and, given the vast number of foreign visitors, many of these rape victims are not French citizens," she said.
She is also planning a worldwide sexual assault awareness campaign.
Having found solace running on the beaches of Byron Bay during her darkest times, Ms McFarlane wants to travel the world and organise 16 kilometre runs - to signify the 16 years she has survived since the attack.
"My vision is to give strength to women and show them that life after rape is possible," she said.
"This adventure is also part of my own healing process and will serve to remind me how grateful I am to have lived after that fateful night in Paris."
