Wild Butterfly is a powerful, timely and important film.

The extent of institutional child sexual abuse in Australia was laid bare by the recent Royal Commission. Claire Murray’s story makes the consequences of this epidemic both graphic and real. Not many of our institutions come out of this devastating tale with reputations enhanced;  … all have serious failings exposed, and yet here is also an opportunity, not before time, for all of them, and for ourselves as a society reflecting on what is important to us, to learn hard lessons from past failings and ensure the same mistakes are not made in the future. 

 More important, an opportunity to redouble our efforts to ensure that our children and their children will never have to endure the pain and the undeserved shame and guilt that crush survivors of sexual abuse and inflict a dreadful silence on the issue. 

 I encourage everyone to watch this film. And I challenge you to watch the film and not come away ashamed of the ill-informed judgements we jump to when we only know the piece of the story that someone with a vested interest wants us to hear.

I salute Claire and her brave family for telling this, the whole story, and the film-makers who decided that it should be told.

John Gordon

Barrister