IN CONVERSATION: Grace Tame

Good morning wonderful Shameless community.

Today on the show, we bring you the absolute force that is Grace Tame. When Grace was just 15 years old, she was repeatedly groomed and raped by a 58-year-old maths teacher who taught at her Tasmanian high school. While - after serving his jail sentence - her perpetrator was allowed to speak about his crimes with the media, Grace legally wasn’t: she was prevented by law from sharing her story with the world. So, she decided to do something about it. Together with journalist and activist Nina Funnell, they created the #LetHerSpeak Campaign, which sought to overturn gag laws in Tasmania, the Northern Territory, and, more recently, Victoria. Grace’s voice has been so powerful and so necessary in the space of law reform, that in January, she was named our 2021 Australian of the Year.

A content warning before you listen to today’s chat - in this episode we discuss issues regarding grooming, child sexual abuse, eating disorders, self-harm and suicide, and may be triggering for some listeners.

For more from Grace, follow her on Instagram @tamepunk.

We urge you to check out the work of Bravehearts, a child safety foundation dedicated to preventing child sexual assault and exploitation in Australia. Support them in any way you can via their website, bravehearts.org.au.

If you’d like to seek support or advice, Braveheart’s support line is 1800 272 831.

If this is your first time checking us out (hey, you), we are an independent media company that is dedicated to telling young women’s stories. The best way to support Shameless is to click ‘Follow’ on your Spotify app, and to tell your mates about us. We will reward such good behaviour with a puppy! Not everything in this paragraph is true!

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This episode was produced by Annabelle Lee for Shameless Media.