The most isolating experience that can happen to you as a child or young person is sexual abuse. Perpetrators of sexual abuse not only use tactics to isolate you from everyone and everything that you love, but you isolate yourself, because how could anyone understand what has happened to you? Was I to blame? What do people think when they see me?

Healing from the trauma of sexual abuse and making sense of what has happened to you cannot happen in isolation. The more you are isolated the further you are separated from your pathway that leads to healing. 

In Yolngu culture, our pathway to healing is Gurrutu.

Gurrutu is our Kinship system and tells the story of who we are, how we fit and where we belong.

Gurrutu is about connection and relationship.

Gurrutu paints an expansive worldview that not only links us to the here and now but recognises that in the Yolngu world, everything and everyone is intertwined and interconnected. Gurrutu predetermines and identifies a Yolngu person’s Clan, Moiety, Songlines, cultural responsibilities and relationships with everyone and everything.

Gurrutu means you are part of something much bigger; your trauma does not define you, and most importantly, you are not alone.

At Yalu, one of our young, strong cultural leaders started the Girl Power group after working with young survivors of sexual abuse. She wanted them not just to survive but to thrive and flourish. Girl Power works to restore dignity, take away shame and reconnect young women through Gurrutu. Girl Power recognises that we live better lives when we are accepted and connected to our healing pathways. Our team walks alongside our young women, building their resilience while navigating the complexities of walking in two worlds, addressing intergenerational trauma and supporting them on their healing journey.