Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has spoken out about the terrifying reality of her work as an advocate for victims of sexual assault.
Ms Tame revealed this week the extent to which she had been targeted for shining a light on the dark world of child sexual abuse.
“They chased me all the way home. They chased me by car,” he said in an interview with The age,
“Some thugs came to my house, went through the garbage bins, came to the front door and ripped the door off its hinges,” he shockingly revealed.
Ms Tame said these criminals target inboxes across all platforms and are sophisticated in that they know how to operate on the edge of the law to avoid being caught.
Having endured these terrifying incidents, Ms Tame remains positive.
‘I try to hold on to the good things, to the change that we were able to help drive as a group and to the foundations we have laid to continue doing more work that remains to be done.’
Ms Tame, a survivor, was groomed and sexually assaulted by her teacher Nicolaas Bester, 58, at the age of 15, when she was in Year 10 at St Michael’s Collegiate girls’ school in Hobart.
Grace Tame (pictured) revealed she had been attacked for shining a light on the dark world of child sexual assault.
At the end of September, Grace Tame (pictured) will embark on a national speaking tour, ‘Lightening the Load’.
Bester was later convicted and imprisoned for his crimes.
That horrible experience propelled her into activism.
Ms Tame was involved in the #LetHerSpeak campaign, which successfully challenged Tasmanian laws preventing survivors from publicly identifying themselves.
In 2021, Ms Tame founded the Grace Tame Foundation to support initiatives aimed at preventing child sexual abuse and helping survivors.
Ms Tame gained national prominence after being named 2021 Australian of the Year for her work raising awareness of child sexual abuse and advocating for legal reform.
Commenting on the award, Ms Tame said: The age“It was equal parts exciting and rewarding, exhausting, scary, overwhelming and unpredictable.”
She added that the greatest privilege of her recognition was witnessing what it unleashed for the broader community of child sexual abuse survivors.
‘I stand on the shoulders of giants, and the conversation around child sexual abuse and incest is something that has been going on for a long time.’
Ms Tame caused controversy during her tenure as Australian of the Year, most notably when she refused to smile when meeting then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a morning tea for recipients of the award from Australian states and territories at The Lodge.
Grace Tame (pictured right) was photographed glancing sideways at then Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured left). “I should probably get my eyebrows insured,” Tame said of the photograph.
Ms Tame was famously photographed giving Mr Morrison a sidelong glance.
“I should probably get my eyebrows insured,” she told The Age of the photo.
“It was a very brief moment. I guess, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.”
The photo attracted national and international attention, with Tame receiving both praise and criticism.
In 2022, Ms Tame published her autobiography, The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner.
Her memoir revealed her childhood experiences of suffering and then the exposure of her sexual abuse, through to her work as an activist and 2021 Australian of the Year.
At the end of September, Ms Tame will embark on a national speaking tour entitled ‘Lightening the Load’.
Ms Tame said the idea was to “reflect on the very jarring and very strange experience of being thrust out of the darkness and into a dazzling, bright spotlight”.
Lightening the Load is billed as ‘a sneak peek into her current work, from legislative reform to personal growth, and how she’s ‘lightening the load’ with others for a brighter future.’
Ms Tame said of Lightening the Load: “I like being in a room with people who are like me.”
‘The audience that comes to see me is usually people who, for whatever reason (it may be because they are also autistic like me, or it may be because they have also had a similar experience of abuse or some kind of trauma), may have spent a large part of their life feeling excluded, isolated.’
