Pink-haired shock tactics put fate of women in Australia and Africa in focus

AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times

March 6, 2015

Emma Macdonald
Senior reporter for The Canberra Times.

Lucy Perry has a theory that ordinary women can do extraordinary things and that International Women’s Day should be a time to turbocharge and celebrate women’s “awesomeness”.

For the child survivors of sexual assault and former students abused during their time at Sydney’s Knox Grammar, Ms Perry’s unflinching Royal Commission hearing testimony earlier this week certainly came as an extraordinary act.

With her trademark shock of pink hair making her an unmissable figure in the court, Ms Perry lobbed a grenade into proceedings when she claimed that she was sexually assaulted on stage during a musical rehearsal by the headmaster of Knox, Dr Ian Patterson.

Dr Paterson categorically denied the claim he had assaulted Ms Perry, even in the face of another former student testifying to having witnessed the assault.

Ms Perry’s evidence earned a standing ovation from child sex-abuse victims and former Knox students attending proceedings.

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