Overview

Dirty Laundry is the story of Lily Arthur, a young 17 year old caught between an era of women's liberation and the draconian ideology that young women should be punished for stepping outside of the 'moral codes' of society. Unfortunately for Lily, the draconian ideologies were the ones that controlled her life. ​ For the 'crime' of being pregnant, Lily was forcibly taken away from the man she loved and planned to marry. ​ Taken from her bed in the middle of the night to the Brisbane Watchhouse, she was incarcerated by the state to work indefinitely in a notorious Magdalene laundry in Brisbane. ​ Locked away and hidden, the child of her first love was taken from her in the labour ward of a Brisbane Hospital, and eventually given away to strangers. ​ In the few minutes she was allowed to see him through the window, she made him the promise, 'I will see you again, little one. I will see you again'. ​ Dirty Laundry is a true story from the war-torn ravages of East End London to the far north of Queensland, Australia, Dirty Laundry exposes the cruelty that challenged the notion of a decent society. A precedent court case and a judgement that drove her on to seek justice through a Senate Inquiry. Follow Lily as she tells of her journey that took her, and a movement of women like herself, on a lifelong battle for justice, and the outcomes of years of activism.

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9780645524109

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Reviews

This book takes people on a journey through Lily's life. It offers a deeply personal and at times very raw insight. It is compelling, powerful, intense, no holes barrred narrative. It clearly shows the life long impact of the illegal, cruel practices of forced adoption and a mother's fight for justice. -- Senator Rachael Siewert An Australian Politician. Dirty Laundry, The Crimes a Country Tried to Hide is a heart-breaking view of crimes against humanity. For almost three decades, Lily Arthur details the legalised kidnapping of babies from millions of women in Australia and elsewhere who were brainwashed to comply with society's punishment. Punishment for getting pregnant. An account of valiant effort by a feisty warrior whose own son was stolen from her by the societal coercion that was rampant in Australia and elsewhere. Her survival and what she accomplished is one for the books, this book! The truth of the horrors of adoption laid bare. -- Joe Soll LCSW, Psychotherapist and author of Adoption Healing... A Path To Recovery, 4 Versions for Adoptees and Natural Mothers. Lily Arthur's story was representative of many mothers across the world who were forced into giving up their newborns to strangers. Like most young women she had hopes for a future that turned into a living nightmare for many decades. She went from housewife to activist and then to a director of Origins an international human rights organisation in Australia. Lily Arthur represents a mother who never gave up her child willingly and fought to make sure he and many other adopted children knows. -- Karen Wilson-Buterbaugh Director of Origins International and USA The book is extremely engaging and, once started, I read it straight through. It was difficult to read about your immigration to Australia, and how your father ultimately left the family there... such difficult times... then, on top of it all, the betrayal of the system for you and your precious baby... and finally, the betrayal of all the work done by Origins. You are one resilient woman. Lil. -- Valerie Andrews PhD student in Gender, Feminist, and Women's Studies at York University in Toronto, Canada. This candid and compelling account of Lily's lived experience and her role in the tireless fight for truth, justice, and human rights for all victims of Forced Adoption will enlighten and inspire the reader and will provide unique learning for all professionals who may be called upon to question the sacred bond between mother and child. A/RES//14/1386 - Declaration of the Rights of the Child - UN Documents: Gathering a body of global agreement (un-documents.net) -- Dr Miriam Stevenson Practitioner, researcher and lecturer in the social work field for over 30 years in UK This book takes people on a journey through Lily's life. It offers a deeply personal and at times very raw insight. It is compelling, powerful, intense, no holes barrred narrative. It clearly shows the life long impact of the illegal, cruel practices of forced adoption and a mother's fight for justice. -- Senator Rachael Siewert, An Australian Politician. Dirty Laundry, The Crimes a Country Tried to Hide is a heart-breaking view of crimes against humanity. For almost three decades, Lily Arthur details the legalised kidnapping of babies from millions of women in Australia and elsewhere who were brainwashed to comply with society's punishment. Punishment for getting pregnant. An account of valiant effort by a feisty warrior whose own son was stolen from her by the societal coercion that was rampant in Australia and elsewhere. Her survival and what she accomplished is one for the books, this book! The truth of the horrors of adoption laid bare. -- Joe Soll, LCSW, Psychotherapist, and author of Adoption Healing... A Path To Recovery, 4 Versions for Adoptees and Natural Mothers. Lily Arthur's story was representative of many mothers across the world who were forced into giving up their new-borns to strangers. Like most young women she had hopes for a future that turned into a living nightmare for many decades. She went from housewife to activist and then to a director of Origins an international human rights organisation in Australia. Lily Arthur represents a mother who never gave up her child willingly and fought to make sure he and many other adopted children knows. -- Karen Wilson-Buterbaugh, Director of Origins International and USA The book is extremely engaging and, once started, I read it straight through. It was difficult to read about your immigration to Australia, and how your father ultimately left the family there... such difficult times... then, on top of it all, the betrayal of the system for you and your precious baby... and finally, the betrayal of all the work done by Origins. You are one resilient woman. Lil. -- Valerie Andrews, PhD student in Gender, Feminist, and Women's Studies at York University in Toronto, Canada.

"""This book takes people on a journey through Lily's life. It offers a deeply personal and at times very raw insight. It is compelling, powerful, intense, no holes barrred narrative. It clearly shows the life long impact of the illegal, cruel practices of forced adoption and a mother's fight for justice."" -- Senator Rachael Siewert An Australian Politician. ""Dirty Laundry, The Crimes a Country Tried to Hide is a heart-breaking view of crimes against humanity. For almost three decades, Lily Arthur details the legalised kidnapping of babies from millions of women in Australia and elsewhere who were brainwashed to comply with society's punishment. Punishment for getting pregnant. An account of valiant effort by a feisty warrior whose own son was stolen from her by the societal coercion that was rampant in Australia and elsewhere. Her survival and what she accomplished is one for the books, this book! The truth of the horrors of adoption laid bare."" -- Joe Soll LCSW, Psychotherapist and author of Adoption Healing... A Path To Recovery, 4 Versions for Adoptees and Natural Mothers. ""Lily Arthur's story was representative of many mothers across the world who were forced into giving up their newborns to strangers. Like most young women she had hopes for a future that turned into a living nightmare for many decades. She went from housewife to activist and then to a director of Origins an international human rights organisation in Australia. Lily Arthur represents a mother who never gave up her child willingly and fought to make sure he and many other adopted children knows."" -- Karen Wilson-Buterbaugh Director of Origins International and USA ""The book is extremely engaging and, once started, I read it straight through. It was difficult to read about your immigration to Australia, and how your father ultimately left the family there... such difficult times... then, on top of it all, the betrayal of the system for you and your precious baby... and finally, the betrayal of all the work done by Origins. You are one resilient woman. Lil."" -- Valerie Andrews PhD student in Gender, Feminist, and Women's Studies at York University in Toronto, Canada. ""This candid and compelling account of Lily's lived experience and her role in the tireless fight for truth, justice, and human rights for all victims of Forced Adoption will enlighten and inspire the reader and will provide unique learning for all professionals who may be called upon to question the sacred bond between mother and child."" A/RES//14/1386 - Declaration of the Rights of the Child - UN Documents: Gathering a body of global agreement (un-documents.net) ​-- Dr Miriam Stevenson Practitioner, researcher and lecturer in the social work field for over 30 years in UK"

Author Information

"Lily Arthur is the Director of Origins, supporting people separated by adoption and a campaigner for human rights and justice for women and children affected by the illegal adoption practices of the past. This book tells the story of a young girl migrating to Australia at the age of 9 from the war torn debris of East London. This was 1959 and the era of the ""ten-pound Pom"" and a promise of what was supposed to be a brighter future in Australia. Two years after our arrival saw us abandoned by my father, who returned to England, and my mother's fight not to lose her nine children to the State of Queensland. Caught between an era of women's liberation and the draconian ideology that young women should be punished for stepping outside of the ""moral codes"" of society, saw me a month shy of my 17th birthday, incarcerated in a Magdalene laundry and the child I was carrying whisked away in the labour ward of a Brisbane hospital, never to be held by his mother. Decades later, my search for truth and accountability uncovers an un-rightable wrong and led to an impossible journey of finding my lost child.My story documents the struggle of an estimated 150, 000 Australian women like myself who have suffered one of the greatest human rights abuses that could be inflicted on young vulnerable women and their children. It is a story that ends in a historic national apology by the Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the unresolved legacy of a time and place that saw its effects flow onto infinity, and to generations that are still yet to be born."

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