Behind closed doors

AUSTRALIA
Dubbo Photo News

Saturday, 08 February 2014 Written by Natalie Holmes

Di Frost was just four years old when abuse started at home. Her nightmare escalated when she was also abused by a member of the Catholic Church. She recently made a statement to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and was brave enough to share her story with NATALIE HOLMES.

Buried in the past

I grew up in Sydney – one of six children. We were a good Catholic family going to church all the time. My parents were involved in the church and, from the outside, we looked like a good, happy, healthy family but that was far from the dysfunction and domestic violence. There were various forms of abuse on each of us – physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

I saw it happen to my brothers and sisters as well as experiencing it myself. My father was undiagnosed bipolar and he could change very quickly from a happy, interactive dad who played with us to someone quite different.

He was a good dad in lots of ways but he would have very dark moods and I learned to read body language quite early on.

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