Virginia Tapscott,

Writer and sexual violence advocate

When Virginia Tapscott lost her 32-year-old sister and fellow survivor of childhood sexual abuse last year, the freelance writer felt propelled to shine a light on the injustices facing those carrying similar traumas.

“Every day I look at my kids running around, and I actually can’t not do anything with the knowledge that it’s estimated one in five to seven children under 18 will experience some form of sexual violence,” says Tapscott, who was nominated for this year’s The Australian Australian of the Year Award and has since provided a voice for survivors of child sexual abuse via her reporting for the publication.

That commitment to upend the system that has historically protected perpetrators also saw Tapscott create a private online support group for fellow survivors, and for the past year work on My Sister’s Secrets, a podcast in partnership with the national newspaper examining sexual assault within her own family. “I’m going to say exactly what happened even though it is hard for people to hear, because if we can’t even read about these crimes or listen to someone talk about what’s happened to them, then how are we ever going to address the problem?”

Hope for 2022: “I would love for the national conversation around the issue of sexual violence to become more solutionorientated. We’ve come through a period where victims are becoming more open about their experiences so we’ve got a much better idea of what the problem is, and now what we have to do is make a concerted effort to start talking about the solution.” RR