Dr Cathy Kezelman AM, President of the Blue Knot Foundation, offers the following comments in relation to the Pell High Court acquittal.
We are absolutely devastated to hear the outcome of today’s High Court decision that sees George Pell to be released of all charges.
For many survivors this decision will be crushing as the immense courage it takes to stand up and be seen and heard is enormous.
To have to prove that you were abused and betrayed can be more than overwhelming given the profound impacts of trauma.
The child sexual abuse pandemic within the Catholic Church has threatened the safety of millions of children, the adults they become and the very moral fibre of what it means to be human.
Pell now has his freedom, but many abuse victims have never been free – trapped in the horror of the crimes which decimated their lives.
About Dr Cathy Kezelman AM
Dr Kezelman AM is a medical practitioner, mental health consumer advocate and President of Blue Knot Foundation ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Centre of Excellence for Complex Trauma. She worked in medical practice for 20 years, mostly as a GP. Under her stewardship Blue Knot Foundation has grown from a peer support organisation to a national centre of excellence combining a prominent consumer voice with that of researchers, academics and clinicians advocating for socio-political trauma-informed change and informed responsiveness to complex trauma. Dr Kezelman was awarded an AM “for significant service to community health as a supporter and advocate for survivors of child abuse” in 2015.
About Blue Knot Foundation
Blue Knot Foundation is Australia’s ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Centre of Excellence for Complex Trauma, empowering recovery and building resilience for the more than five million adult Australians (1 in 4) with a lived experience of complex trauma, including childhood trauma and abuse, their families and communities. The organisation played a pivotal role supporting the work of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, in advocating for fair and equitable redress, and now in supporting people applying for redress, as well as engaging with the Disability Royal Commission.
