In some ways, I was lucky to be pregnant while I was at Parramatta Girls Home. Unlike many others, I was never raped, and I think that’s because I was showing by now. Why choose a pregnant woman for your sex and power games when there were easier pickings on hand? If I lost the baby because of what the guards did to me, I imagined there might be trouble, too. I was also outspoken, so it was easier to pick on the weaker, more vulnerable girls.
One girl had been in for six months after stealing a pair of socks. Others, like me, were poor and had no one to look after them. Another girl arrived after her father stripped her naked, chained her to a tree and raped her repeatedly for three straight days and nights. Obviously, she was a complete mess, no doubt suffering terrible trauma. But she, and girls like her – often severely disturbed, mentally ill or with a physical disability – were either selected for ‘special’ attention, or were hurt by girls who were punished by the guards if they refused to obey orders to injure them…






Looking forward to reading the book. I hope it is in the Library!