Sisters Maureen and Pauline McDonogh are survivors of horrors that are hard to imagine.Their lives and those of their four siblings were shattered when their mother died only months after Pauline's birth. They were sent from their dairy family's home at Dapto, near Wollongong, to live with a relative, who raped Maureen, then aged 8.When Maureen told a teacher what had happened, the police came but didn't do anything and the uncle beat Maureen until she was unconscious.
Long wait for apology was worth it Kevin Rudd says sorry to the Forgotten Australians Warilla man one of the Forgotten Australians Days later, welfare officials came and put Maureen, Pauline and their youngest sister, Jean, into state custody.The girls, even three-year-old Jean, were forced to undergo vaginal examinations to test their stories of sexual abuse.They were split up when Pauline was four and Maureen 12. They didn't see each other again for 13 years.A life in and out of abusive foster homes and institutions, including the notorious Parramatta Girls Home, followed.Pauline recalls how her first memories of her sister were letters that had been censored by authorities to remove identifying details."They deliberately kept us apart," she said.Pregnant at 16, she was taken from her then foster parents and put in a flat in Hurstville. She lost the baby.Pauline found Maureen again in 1973, when she was released from care and returned to Dapto looking for her family.Maureen still feels the burden of speaking up about her abusive relative."I've carried that guilt all my life, that I'd split up my family," Maureen said.As adults, the sisters suffered broken marriages and relationships.Pauline has since found happiness with her partner, Ken Downs, who was also separated from his family as a small child.Maureen and Pauline came to Canberra to hear the apology to the forgotten Australians.Of the Prime Minister's speech, Maureen said: "I thank him for his compassion, but 'sorry' doesn't cut it. Nothing will ever replace my life, or my brothers' and sisters' lives. Unless they're going to back it up, it's toilet paper."Pauline believes the Catholic Church should pay reparation to victims like them.While in state care, their inheritance from their grandfather was taken away from them.Pauline said: "What was important to me today was that I was believed. I told the truth all my life and people couldn't believe it." smh.com.au
