Our Voices
Judy Courtin
Lawyer & advocate at
Judy Courtin Legal
LOUD fence is an extremely powerful and potent movement that robustly addresses the critical issues facing victim/survivors of institutional child sex abuse and other crimes. LOUD fence is giving the voiceless a very loud voice indeed, in a practical and visible way. A single ribbon says a thousand words.
Louise Milligan
Australian author & investigative reporter for the ABC TV Four Corners program
Whenever I see the ribbons LOUD fence tie on the iron railings of an institution where children’s innocence was repeatedly stolen, it gives me a little stab in the solar plexus. But it should.
We should never forget the lifelong scars that institutional abuse leave on little children. I think the ribbons keep the institutions in some way accountable. Yes, they represent pain and shame. But they also tell survivors that they matter. They tell the families of victims who didn’t make it that they matter.
Tony Wardley
Survivor - advocate & much loved husband and dad.
Ten years ago I was sitting in my car in King St around the corner from the church and school. Tears streaming from my eyes as I try to write messages on a couple of ribbons. Then came the hardest part building up the guts to go around the corner and hang the ribbons on the fence. I had avoided that area for most of my life. Even to the extent of not being able attend funerals of loved ones.
So, it took a while to get myself together enough to go around the corner. When I did, seeing the ribbons, I just had a feeling of calm come over me. The realisation that people were listening to our stories at the Royal Commission. That people were believing us and people wanted changes so that children could live more safely.
The bigger LOUD fence became the more the conversations happened . The role LOUD fence has played in showing survivors that they are not alone has been immeasurable.
Katrina Bevelander
Melissa Cunningham
Paul Levey
Manager at Centre Against Sexual Assault, Ballarat
Journalist with The Age, & previously Ballarat Courier
Survivor-advocate, motorbike enthusiast & dog lover.
LOUD fence has played a pivotal role through a time that unearthed the extent, and impact, of institutional child sexual abuse during the Royal Commission time and beyond. LOUD fence has provided survivors and advocates with a community and shared purpose in working towards safe communities for children and to support those who have experienced harm. The symbol of ribbons shows the importance of every person in our community that has experienced sexual violence.
LOUD fence stands for what is right and just and in solidarity with survivors and has been integral in advocating for the needs of all survivors of sexual harm to be addressed at levels of government and in legislation.
The work of LOUD fence has supported change and there is much left to do.
Working alongside LOUD fence as the Manager of CASA is a privilege as we work towards our shared vision of the elimination of sexual violence and harm against children.
To be in Ballarat when LOUD fence emerged out of the darkness of all the harrowing stories being told to the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse was something truly extraordinary. These tales of tragedy lingered and hung like dark clouds in the sky in Ballarat. LOUD fence became a way for people to show their support for all survivors.
The movement took on a life of its own and became a catalyst for change in Ballarat and across the world. For many survivors, it led them to return to the religious churches and institutions where the abuse occurred. They tied a colourful ribbon: an act not only of profound courage, but a symbol for no more silence.
I have met some of the best people I have encountered in my life though LOUD fence. What it has done for so many people cannot be adequately put into words. But this quote from Margaret Mead comes to mind: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has".
Michele and I have been part of LOUD fence from the beginning in Ballarat
We have tied ribbons in Thailand, the Vatican, around Rome, Abu Dhabi, Ballarat, Sunbury, Salesian college Sunbury and the most important one was just recently, I tied ribbons on the church at Mortlake where I was abused.
We took a LOUD fence banner to Rome where all the survivors signed it. We held it up around Rome but another major part was we held the banner up at the Vatican.
LOUD fence has bought so many people together tying ribbons in cities, small towns, letter boxes, churches, schools and institutions where survivors and victims were abused all around the world.
