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Prisoner of the State
Unlawfully arrested, illegally detained, a punishment to last a lifetime.
Brief Description
At sixteen years old, Lily Arthur was caught between the women’s liberation movement of the ‘swinging sixties’ and the draconian ideology that young women should be punished for deviating from society's 'moral codes'. For the 'crime' of being pregnant, Lily was forcibly taken from the man...
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Prisoner of the State
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Description
At sixteen years old, Lily Arthur was caught between the women’s liberation movement of the ‘swinging sixties’ and the draconian ideology that young women should be punished for deviating from society's 'moral codes'.
For the 'crime' of being pregnant, Lily was forcibly taken from the man she planned to marry and incarcerated in the notorious Holy Cross Home for ‘wayward’ girls in Wooloowin, Brisbane as a ‘prisoner’ of the state. Lily spent her entire pregnancy performing unpaid labour in its infamous Magdalene Laundry.
On 1 September 1967, the terrified teenager was taken to the Royal Brisbane Hospital where she gave birth shackled to a bed, and her newborn son was cruelly stolen from her – one of 250,000 babies forcibly seized from vulnerable unmarried mothers under the Government’s illegal forced adoption policies of the era.
After decades of heartache and an emotional reunion with her long-lost son, Lily remains on a crusade to expose the truth behind the crimes a country tried to hide and has taken the fight to the Human Rights Commission in Geneva, demanding justice for a generation of women who were victims of one of the worst human rights violations in contemporary Australian history.
About the author
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. Lily is a trailblazer who played a pivotal role in securing National Apologies for Australia's Stolen Generations and Forgotten Australians. Her relentless advocacy addresses forced adoption's legacy and seeks justice for its victims, including herself.
Praise for the Book
‘Only a few mothers led the fight for justice, but an army of women stood behind them. Lily Arthur represents a mother who never gave up her child willingly and fought to make sure he and many other adopted children know.’ – Karen Wilson-Buterbaugh, Director of Origins International and USA
‘Deeply personal and at times very raw insight. It is compelling, powerful, intense, no holes barred narrative. It clearly shows the lifelong impact of the illegal, cruel practices of forced adoption and a mother's fight for justice.’ – Senator Rachael Siewert
‘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. The truth of the horrors of adoption laid bare.’ – Joe Soll LCSW, Psychotherapist, and author of Adoption Healing
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781923144910
Publisher: Big Sky Publishing
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 29 January 2025
Country: Australia
Imprint: Big Sky Publishing
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 3886.0mm
Height: 5842.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 304
About the Author
Lily Arthur is the CEO of Origins Australia and a vocal human rights activist and campaigner. She played a key role in preparing submissions that led to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s landmark National Apologies to Australia’s Indigenous Stolen Generations and The Forgotten Australians — young wards of the state who suffered institutional abuse. Born in Bethnal Green, London, to an Irish returned soldier and an English Jewish mother, Lily and her seven siblings emigrated to Australia in the mid-1950s as part of the flood of post-war migrants seeking better lives. At sixteen, Lily became a prisoner of the state of Queensland for the crime of being unmarried and pregnant. Her child was born during her incarceration and stolen under the Commonwealth Government’s Forced Adoption policies. Later in life, Lily returned to university to study law and embarked on a crusade to find her son and uncover the truth behind her detention and his forced adoption. She entered local politics, successfully lobbying for a Senate Inquiry into the Commonwealth Government’s historic forced adoption policies and practices, which saw 250,000 newborn babies, including her own, taken from vulnerable young unmarried mothers. Her tireless advocacy led to a 2013 National Apology from then Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Now the voice of over 150,000 Australian victims of forced adoption and thousands more across the Commonwealth whose babies were stolen under historic policies, Lily has addressed the Scottish Parliament on behalf of their victims and has been a keynote speaker on the issue both in Australia and internationally, including in New York. She has appeared on Channel Ten with Kerrie-Anne Kennerley, in Australian Women’s Weekly, and on various TV shows and in magazines. Lily lives with her husband Des and their spoiled rotten Pug, Puggy, on Queensland’s Gold Coast and is a grandmother of ten. Her fight for compensation for victims of forced adoption is now before the Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.
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