Rebecca Gibney speaks out for domestic violence victims
While supporting Melissa George, the actress opens up on domestic violence
Reading the stories about Melissa George’s terrifying ordeal at the hands of her partner Jean-david Blanc, Rebecca Gibney’s blood ran cold. She was only too aware of what her fellow actress had endured, and the internet trolling that came on the back of Melissa’s Sunday Night interview broke her heart.
Rebecca, 52, grew up in a tightknit family in New Zealand, the youngest of six. But the kids hid a dark secret: their father was an angry alcoholic who regularly hit their mother.
“On the odd occasion, he beat her so badly she had bruises for six months on her legs,” Rebecca reveals. Looking back as an adult, she describes her childhood as “dysfunctional” and “sometimes sad,” despite being protected by her mother Shirley. “She would constantly tell us it was not our
fault and she shielded us so that when Dad came home he’d beat her up [not us],” she says.
Rebecca was just five years old during the worst of her father Austin’s ferocious outbursts.
“I remember [Mum] putting us to bed and I quite often would hear Dad come home, but she’d always shut the doors leading to the kitchen or the lounge room. So you’d hear the yelling and the shouting and the slapping, but you’d never actually see it.
“Sometimes she’d wake us up in the middle of the night and bundle us into the car and we would drive around the block and we’d sleep outside. But she made it an adventure,” Rebecca says.
Growing up in that difficult environment had a profound effect on Rebecca that she admits took years of therapy to overcome. “I saw a psychiatrist twice a week. I was on valium and in a dark place for quite a while,” she says.
Rebecca’s dad died suddenly at the age of 51, when she was 17. “The fact I had a violent, alcoholic father who passed away when I was young, I never had a sense of love from him. And when n you lack that from a parent I thinknk it does things to your self-esteem.”eem.”
With all the work Rebeccaa has done to put her past behindd her, she’s keen to show other victimsctims of domestic violence there is a better way, and they can recover cover from their trauma.
“It takes a while, but everyy dayy you can make steps to get outut of that place. I have the tools now because I did seek help.”
Rebecca has developed a loving family environmentent with her husband Richard d Bell and their son Zach, 12. 2.
“I’m very contented in myself. I’m OK. I’m a good person. I’m a kind person,” she says. She also remains close to her siblings and herr mum, who she describes as s “the kindest woman I know” w” and “probably the most groovy granny around.”
“We’ve all had some tragedy,” edy,” she says. “It’s up to you to deal with it and move on.”
For help and support contact Respect on 1800 RESPECT.