The Fawn

This memoir is a short story that focuses on the cumulative and complex trauma I have experienced throughout my short life. This memoir is a feminist piece, concentrating on gender-based violence towards girls and women. This memoir is a snapshot of what a woman looks like after being severely abused and traumatised by men, in childhood and in adulthood. This memoir is controversial when it should not be. This is because this memoir contains dissociated or recovered memories. I seek to educate the audience about recovered memories, complex PTSD, as well as traumatic experiences such as child sexual abuse, child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic and family violence. I also wish to emphasise how children are impacted by these experiences as they develop into adults and try to live their lives. I also wish to help fellow survivors of trauma and abuse in any way I can in writing this, to help them know they are not alone. Lastly, my story carries the reader through my lived experience as a woman with mental health conditions, navigating her way through the appalling public mental health system in Australia. I wish to expose the mental health system for what it is: a backwards, abusive, negligent, and misogynistic system in dire need of change. The less we talk about these things, the more stigmatised they become, which is why I am so vocal throughout this book - my impassioned cry. At times my voice is strong, at others you can barely hear it, but I can promise you that I'm speaking as loudly as I can. My story is not inspiring, but there is a seed of hope, tenderly nurtured, in my little flower garden.