Louise Nicholas felt 'bloody violated' after house burgled

Louise Nicholas had her house burgled. Photo / TVNZ

Victims' rights advocate Louise Nicholas says she feels violated after her house was burgled yesterday and thieves rifled through her underwear drawer.

Mrs Nicholas said she had washed her underwear since the thieves had gone through her drawers.

"I'm a survivor of sexual violence and that was a trigger," she said.

"I've had people in my home rummaging through my drawers. It's a huge violation on anyone."

She said she thought it must have been young people that broke in to her Rotorua home.

"It has to be kids, I had stuff like jewellery in my drawer but the only thing they took was my gold watch that the kids gave me."

Items stolen included laptops, an iPad, a wallet and a phone.

"I'm grateful they didn't trash the place, they came in, they took and they left. I'm thankful for that but I'm gutted for my dad. His phone and iPad were his lifeline."

Her father had only recently moved into her family home.

She said the experience had been "an eye-opener" and she was considering getting a dog to deter future burglars.

"Many years ago we had a Rottweiler, I think it's time we reinvested in another one. Dogs are a deterrent."

Mrs Nicholas was last month made an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the prevention of sexual violence.

Her fight for justice in 2004 sparked public protests and the creation of Operation Austin to investigate alleged sexual offending by former Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards and his ex-colleagues Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum.