Australian of the Year and sexual abuse survivor Grace Tame is delivering a powerful National Press Club address.
The 26-year-old was 15 when she was raped by her 58-year-old teacher, and she rose to prominence via News Corp’s #LetHerSpeak campaign which, in 2019, took her legal case to be able to publicly self-identify as a rape survivor to the Supreme Court of Tasmania, and won.
This afternoon, she shared harrowing details of how the abuse unfolded, starting with an inappropriate conversation with the teacher at school.
“I told my mother about the conversation. My parents had a meeting with the school principal, requesting the teacher stay away from me,” she said.
Ms Tame then revealed she had been pressured into apologising to the teacher.
“I was told I had done something wrong. Thus, the first seeds of terror, confusion, and self-doubt were sewn in my mind,” she said.
“Indeed, it didn’t make sense. In secret, he was adamant I still come to see him. To talk. My parents were against me, he insisted. I was not
to tell them because they wouldn’t understand.
“He told me he would never hurt me. Until he did.”
Grace Tame is delivering a powerful address.
