Efforts to engage with the rarely heard stories of religious sisters have received a renewed pledge of support to further inform Australia’s understanding of women’s experiences in the Church.
With generous backing from the Ian and Shirley Norman Foundation, celebrated sociologist Dr Kathleen McPhillips will lead a project collating the experiences of gendered violence and abuse experienced by current and former nuns and religious sisters – women who have made a formal commitment to the church – across the globe.
More than 650,000 religious sisters work alongside communities experiencing disadvantage and injustice, contributing cultural, social and financial resources and shaping education, healthcare and social services globally.
The work will create new opportunities for recognition, healing, safeguarding and institutional reform.
“As a result of the International Survey of Catholic Women, we received a huge number of qualitative responses from self-identified religious sisters,” Dr McPhillips said.
