Table of Contents
Acknowledgement
Acknowledgement goes to the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) which administers the Service and Regional Research Program (SARRP) funding on behalf of the Coordination and Development Committee of the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program for funding so that time could be dedicated to this project.
This Report would also not have been possible without the initial funding provided by the then ACT Department of Education, Youth and Family Services, for the Youth Studies Master cohort attending the Australian Catholic University (Watson Campus), of which the author is one.
A special thanks to Head of School of Social Work, Kandie Allen-Kelly, my supervisor, for her valuable input to the draft forms and to Dr Morag McArthur, for her assistance in helping this novice to interpret the data from SPSS.
The staff of Lowana Young Women’s Service also deserves thanks, for providing space to the author to complete the Report and tolerance of the impact this has had on their workplace. Their support has been invaluable, as has been that of Lowana’s Community Management Committee, particularly Amanda O’Neill (Chair), Milli Blenkin (Deputy Chair) and Naomi Hamill (Secretary).
Finally but not least, the author wishes to acknowledge the vulnerable young women who have entrusted the Service with the sharing of their life experiences. It is hoped that by sharing some of these secret lives, a better understanding of the impact of childhood trauma on women can lead to changes in the way society treats them.