25th January 2016
Guest Writer for Wake Up World
Why isn’t Child Abuse front and centre in all media publications and broadcasts? Our global society is awakening and becoming well aware of the systemic, epidemic and pandemic issues that surround all matters relative to Child Abuse, paedophiles and predators and the issues that block the truth from being centre-stage on all mainstream and alternative media. The subject matter is huge and the impact of leaving the issue unaddressed is nothing short of catastrophic.
My name is Amanda Gabriel Prosser and I am a recognised Australian Child Abuse Whistleblower.
In 2011 I made a Mandatory Report as per my professional training. As a secondary Teacher I had a professional obligation to adhere to my professional training and to obey the law. I did what I was trained to do. I obeyed the law. Even if I had not been trained to report Child Abuse, I still would have put Children first and reported the information to a professional agency.
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In short, my life after making the first of two Mandatory Reports in 2011, was immediately destroyed, on every level. I had no concept of the journey that I would undertake. The second Mandatory Report information spanned at least thirty five years. To explain it in emotive terms, I walked into an inner hell to be with Children and my conscience would not let me walk out without them. I continue to do what I can.
I knew I had to address what was being negatively impressed upon my life. I told myself I have done what is right, professional training or not. I was seemingly alone in a nightmare not of my making. I would soon meet other Mandatory Reporters who had their lives destroyed as well, again immediately after reporting Child Abuse. What was this nightmare? Did someone have the answers? No but we all had and still have a myriad of questions.
I entered a system of professional agencies. At the beginning I really did not know what was happening but somewhere into the journey which is now at the five year mark and continuing – I realised something was seriously wrong with the current professional paradigm that represents the voice of the Child.
I engaged with many professional agencies in earnest attempts to understand why my life had been destroyed and after meeting other people who had experienced the same destruction – I became more determined to find a professional agency who would address my concerns.
After progressing through many professional agencies and specifically the administrative procedures of the Australian Human Rights Commission I pressed on and attended the Australian Circuit Court of Human Rights. This was a very telling juncture of my Child Abuse Whistleblower journey. Essentially I submitted 245 pages of evidence as per court administrative protocols and as such the Catholic Church legal team were in receipt of my evidence for six months. The day of the Interlocutory Hearing and I found myself arguing a single point of law. I argued a single point of law that was not yet in general use but that was probably due to the (new) point of law not yet being a month old.
When I state that I argued a single point of law that is a literal description. I was not able to engage the services of a legal practitioner and was not eligible for legal aid – I represented myself. I am a university educated (former) operational NSW Police Officer so I applied what skills I already possessed and court staff assisted me with ensuring my documentation was submitted correctly and accepted into evidence.
I did not win the actual case however I did set a precedent in that I have made valuable information and evidence a matter of public record. It stands to reason that when I return to the court room and others enter a court room in the future, the recognisable patterns of destruction to the lives of the Mandatory Reporters, will become a matter that must be addressed as an adjunct to legislative reform. As a moot point because I did not win the case I was liable for hefty costs. I made mention of the fact during my two days arguing a single, month old point of law, that the Catholic Church is the wealthiest organisation on the planet. That fact is now a matter of public record. I imagine the Catholic Church Barrister and his assistant must have paid attention and taken note.
A couple of weeks after I attended the Australian Federal Circuit Court of Human Rights where the Judge delivered his finding I received correspondence from the Catholic Church legal office informing me that they would not be seeking costs. Was I relieved? If my health had not been so poor I suppose I could have felt something but when you are a Child Abuse Whistleblower fighting an almighty battle I truly felt nothing. I had to continue the journey.
I had engaged in the administrative protocols of almost thirty professional agencies and no one was listening to me. I will mention here that my Child Abuse Whistleblower journey cannot be told in chronological order as sometimes I was actively engaged with two or three agencies at the same time. I want to make mention of the fact that during the six months that my 245 pages of evidence was in the hands of the Catholic Church legal team, I received two large bundles of documentation. The bundles had been sent to me from the Independent Education Union appointed legal representative. There was a letter with the two bundles that stated the legal representative could no longer represent me. I was shocked and disappointed but I allowed logic to dictate that before I see this incident as negative, look at the documents.
I read through the two large bundles of documents and realised that I was reading documentation written about me that I had not read before. I listed 178 false items of information, some that could be clarified simply by checking administrative records, some items were completely false, made up and essentially lies. Most were recorded in statement form complete with the signature of the person who made the statement.
At this stage of my Child Abuse Whistleblower journey my health was woeful and I literally felt as though I was existing on automatic pilot. The extreme fatigue that accompanied my growing physical health complaints was a barrier I still do not know how I overcame to even attend court. I can only suggest that the human spirit can allow the physical body to continue long after it wants to drop to the ground in a heap. When putting Children at the forefront of any decision making process it becomes easy to keep going. Essentially I was so exhausted I did not have the energy to process the three hundred documents and enter them as additional evidence. I have since realised that the three hundred documents will now open new opportunities for me to continue the Child Abuse Whistleblower journey.
Recently, as I attend to my health, a very public smear campaign has been conducted with the intention of, well I really don’t know what the intention is but there is a Child Abuse Whistleblower smear campaign that includes my name. Maybe the people involved with the smear campaign think I will just give up. A serious and dedicated researcher stated to me; “Amanda you must be getting close to the truth, you are becoming a threat.” Also mentioned was the fact that I am emerging as somewhat of an expert in the area of being a recognised Child Abuse Whistleblower. If being regarded an expert consists of engaging in a created paradigm of administrative agencies and collating all the information and evidence in an effort to find answers – then maybe I am an expert. I do know that I can state with certainty that the current administrative systems do not work effectively to protect Children. I have discovered why the system is not working effectively. I have also discovered that Australian legislation does not contain any Child Abuse Whistleblower legislation and as such I am not committing any offence by making my journey public.
I created the Child Abuse Whistleblowers community page on Facebook as an absolute last option. It has proven to be very successful in that when I made sensitive information and evidence public the first thing to happen was that local citizens contacted me and confirmed information posted. I also had additional information disclosed to me.
Out of chaos comes order and out of darkness comes light. It would appear that as I collect and collate information and evidence – I am finding order and shedding light. Child Abuse is a dark dark dark place. Please consider visiting the Child Abuse Whistleblowers community page on Facebook. It has been constructed in a very specific manner.
Please also consider viewing the recent movie Spotlight. (You can view the trailer here.) I will not spoil the storyline but it is based on actual events. A group of reporters at the Boston Globe newspaper uncover systemic Child Abuse. As an endpiece to the movie, before the credits there is a long list of American locations where major Child Abuse scandals have been uncovered. After the American locations there is a list of global locations and Australia is featured. There it is, in the very last column of the global locations: Wagga Wagga. Wagga Wagga is the location of the Catholic Church Diocese and the Catholic Schools Office at which my Child Abuse Whistleblower journey began. I thought my heart would stop. Whatever small part I am playing in the detection of Child Abuse – it is for All Children. Another movie that offers an insight into the Catholic Church and Child Abuse is Philomena. Yet another movie based on actual events. Both movies are available for viewing online.
Being informed leads to understanding which in turn leads to knowledge and when we are fully informed and fully understanding – we become educated. The subject of Child Abuse is heart wrenching at least and decidedly evil at most. What is the solution? Is there actually a singular solution or are there many solutions? I do not pretend to have all the answers indeed I do not pretend to have any of the answers but I am discovering that the issue needs to be front and centre everywhere. We are – as a global society – starting to learn and starting to understand the issue of Child Abuse and that is at least a start.
Since electing to make my Child Abuse Whistleblower journey public all I have asked of our global society is that they stand with me. When we stand together we can bring light to the darkest place. Please stand with me. When we fail to protect Children – All Children – we fail to have a future.
Please visit the Child Abuse Whistleblowers community page on Facebook for more information.
Please note: For the purposes of due diligence, documentation supporting this article has been reviewed by the editor of Wake Up World. However, due to its nature, this material has not been included here for publication. Please visit the Child Abuse Whistleblowers community page on Facebook for more information.
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