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On Reckoning
On Reckoning tells of the moment when the personal became very political, when rape became the national conversation.
What happens when the usual political tactics of deflect and dodge are no longer enough?
A reckoning.
The Guardian's political reporter Amy Remeikis has spoken before about being a survivor of sexual assault, but Brittany Higgins going public with her story ripped the curtain back not just on political attempts to deal with real-world issues, but also how unsafe women can be, even inside the most protected building in the country.
Amy didn't expect to see political leaders fumble the moment so completely. And what followed was people taking back the conversation from the politicians.
On Reckoning is a searing account of Amy's personal and professional rage, taking you inside the parliament - and out - during one of the most confronting and uncomfortable conversations in recent memory.
What happens when the usual political tactics of deflect and dodge are no longer enough?
A reckoning.
The Guardian's political reporter Amy Remeikis has spoken before about being a survivor of sexual assault, but Brittany Higgins going public with her story ripped the curtain back not just on political attempts to deal with real-world issues, but also how unsafe women can be, even inside the most protected building in the country.
Amy didn't expect to see political leaders fumble the moment so completely. And what followed was people taking back the conversation from the politicians.
On Reckoning is a searing account of Amy's personal and professional rage, taking you inside the parliament - and out - during one of the most confronting and uncomfortable conversations in recent memory.
102 pages, Paperback
Published January 25, 2022
13 people are currently reading
559 people want to read
About the author
Amy Remeikis
9 books20 followersAmy Remeikis is a political journalist, author and commentator who covered Parliament for the Guardian Australia and regularly appears on ABC radio and TV and The Project on Channel Ten. She is Chief Political Strategist at The Australia Institute.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
January 29, 2022
Everyone should read this.
April 26, 2022
This is such a small book but it packs a punch. Tracing the political floundering that was evident from the Prime Minister’s initial response to Brittany Higgins’ allegation (I hate that word but … Australian defamation law, etc) that she was raped in Parliament House to the dismal response to those made against a senior minister of government, the rage is evident - and justified.
Sometimes you read a book that says many of the things you want to say, only better. This is one of them. I tried really hard to minimise the amount of quotes I wanted to include here but, as you’ll see, I failed miserably.
I present to you the sentences I couldn’t leave behind:
Content warnings include domestic and family abuse, miscarriage and sexual assault.
Blog - https://schizanthusnerd.com
Sometimes you read a book that says many of the things you want to say, only better. This is one of them. I tried really hard to minimise the amount of quotes I wanted to include here but, as you’ll see, I failed miserably.
I present to you the sentences I couldn’t leave behind:
Lines were drawn between those who lived in the before time, and those who knew what the after felt like.
Staying quiet can save your life, but eventually, all that quiet begins to scream.
Your body can’t forget trauma. It holds the sights and the scents and the sounds deep in your tissue.
We all know someone who has been sexually assaulted, or know of someone who has been, but we never seem to know the perpetrators. And yet, that’s statistically impossible. Someone is carrying out these assaults; someone is creating this trauma.
There is every chance that someone in your everyday life is someone else’s monster.
Anger can be destructive, but it can also be transformative. Used well, it can bring about a necessary clarity, stripping back all the frosting to what lies rotten underneath.
Flight, fight, freeze and fawn, and everything in between, are completely legitimate responses to fear, and if you are having a fear response, you’re in an unsafe situation.
In 2020, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research reported that about 15,000 women came forward to report a sexual assault. Only 2 per cent - or about 300 - of those cases led to a guilty verdict in court.
And those were the ones that made it to court.
Commissioner Fuller himself reported that only about 10 per cent of the sexual assault allegations taken to NSW officers led to charges being laid. Of that 10 per cent taken to court, only 10 per cent would lead to a conviction.
Not everyone can tell their story. And no-one has to. After everything else has been ripped away from you, your story is your own. Telling, not telling - none of it makes you any less brave, less worthy. Just putting one step in front of the other after all you’ve been through is more than enough. Your story belongs to no-one but you, and you don’t owe it to anyone to share.
There’s no right way to do any of this. Remember that, and do what it is that works for you.
Reckonings don’t come for free. It’s always been broken people, patched back together, who pay. And pay they do, to try to make sure those coming after them will never know what it costs.I only wish this book was longer.
Content warnings include domestic and family abuse, miscarriage and sexual assault.
Blog - https://schizanthusnerd.com
April 21, 2022
In On Reckoning, Australian political journalist Amy Remeikis dissects the response to and fallout from the gender-related crisis that occurred in the Australian political sphere in early 2021. She reflects on the rage, both individual and collective, provoked by a series of alleged offences by public figures against women, and the response, perceived by many as woefully tone-deaf and inadequate, by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and others.
In the weeks following the publication of Brittany Higgins' alleged sexual assault in Parliament House, the historical rape allegations against former Attorney General Christian Porter being aired and Liberal staffer Rachelle Miller's complaint related to abuse by former Education Minister Alan Tudge, a groundswell of popular support demanded changes to the way women are treated in modern Australia. I attended a rally in Hobart, and was privileged to hear then Australian of the Year Grace Tame speak, eloquently and forcefully, about her own experience of systematic child sexual abuse and the need for all Australians (not just women) to mobilise for change.
Sexual assault is often, wrongly, perceived as a "women's issue", and accordingly sidelined from the mainstream. We are fed statistics on how many women have experienced sexual assault, but not on how many men are perpetrators. Most of us (especially women) will know of someone, perhaps even ourselves, who has suffered rape or domestic violence, yet few men would admit to knowing a perpetrator of such crimes. The numbers just don't stack up. Journalists who covered the marches and rallies or gave a voice to the spokespeople were mischaracterised as "activists", rather than simply doing their job, covering an issue of concern to the community at large, but also an issue that is about real people's lives and experiences.
Remeikis also coins the term "crumb maiden", referring to those women - principally politicians and fellow journalists - who attempted to defend the position taken by the government, effectively standing with the patriarchal system actively working to keep them down, and weaponising the "sisterhood" if themselves criticised for their stance. The term has since been taken up by social media, often used as an insult against women who defend misogynistic or tone-deaf behaviour by their male counterparts.
Remeikis finishes the book with a call to action. We must maintain the rage to effect structural and political change, but at the same time, cultural change begins at the grassroots level and we all have our part to play in refusing to perpetuate gendered aggression and misogyny.
On Reckoning is an important book in the current Australian socio-political climate, particularly with a federal election only a month away. For a small book (only 106 pages), it certainly packs a mighty punch.
"As the adrenaline flowed through me, I saw it echoed in the flabbergasted comments across social media. In the messages and emails. In the discussion of colleagues around me, and the heavy footsteps of those asking me if I'd heard the Prime Minister's comments." (p.8)Remeikis courageously relates her own experience of sexual violence, which in her case was at the hands of a stranger on a dark street one night. She reflects that, despite the tragic universality of such experiences by women, they remain intensely individual traumas. She asks why it is that so many Australians, and particularly men, feel the need to re-contextualise such incidents as though it'd happened to a woman they know and love before, like the Prime Minister, they can conceive of the level of violation, trauma and anger that results. (For those who aren't aware or don't recall, Scott Morrison referred to his wife Jenny "clarifying" the issues for him by asking how he'd respond if one of his own daughters was affected by such an incident.)
In the weeks following the publication of Brittany Higgins' alleged sexual assault in Parliament House, the historical rape allegations against former Attorney General Christian Porter being aired and Liberal staffer Rachelle Miller's complaint related to abuse by former Education Minister Alan Tudge, a groundswell of popular support demanded changes to the way women are treated in modern Australia. I attended a rally in Hobart, and was privileged to hear then Australian of the Year Grace Tame speak, eloquently and forcefully, about her own experience of systematic child sexual abuse and the need for all Australians (not just women) to mobilise for change.
"One voice, your voice and our collective voices can make a difference. We are on the precipice of a revolution whose call to action needs to be heard loud and clear." ~ Grace Tame, quoted on p.33Remeikis reflects that many who participated in the rallies found that voicing their anger out loud was a positive and cathartic experience, as so many had previously hidden their experience of male violence and misogyny. As the government attempted to appease the public with platitudes (but no real action), the anger only grew.
Sexual assault is often, wrongly, perceived as a "women's issue", and accordingly sidelined from the mainstream. We are fed statistics on how many women have experienced sexual assault, but not on how many men are perpetrators. Most of us (especially women) will know of someone, perhaps even ourselves, who has suffered rape or domestic violence, yet few men would admit to knowing a perpetrator of such crimes. The numbers just don't stack up. Journalists who covered the marches and rallies or gave a voice to the spokespeople were mischaracterised as "activists", rather than simply doing their job, covering an issue of concern to the community at large, but also an issue that is about real people's lives and experiences.
Remeikis also coins the term "crumb maiden", referring to those women - principally politicians and fellow journalists - who attempted to defend the position taken by the government, effectively standing with the patriarchal system actively working to keep them down, and weaponising the "sisterhood" if themselves criticised for their stance. The term has since been taken up by social media, often used as an insult against women who defend misogynistic or tone-deaf behaviour by their male counterparts.
"A crumb maiden is a male or female who gathers around a power structure, typically a gendered power structure, and does things which dishonour themselves and their community in order to gather up whatever benefits for themselves.” (~ Kel Richards, Australian journalist)Remeikis describes the appalling personal attacks she's received, mostly via social media, since taking her stance on gendered violence and the associated political apathy. Unfortunately, this is an experience common to many women who "speak up", including Grace Tame, complainants Brittany Higgins and Rachelle Miller and female journalists generally. Speaking out certainly takes its toll.
Remeikis finishes the book with a call to action. We must maintain the rage to effect structural and political change, but at the same time, cultural change begins at the grassroots level and we all have our part to play in refusing to perpetuate gendered aggression and misogyny.
On Reckoning is an important book in the current Australian socio-political climate, particularly with a federal election only a month away. For a small book (only 106 pages), it certainly packs a mighty punch.
July 19, 2022
An essay published by Amy Remeikis, the Guardian political reporter at the Australian Parliament in Canberra.
Remeikis got triggered by the fumbling, inappropriate response of Scott Morrison, the Australian Prime Minister at the time (thank the goddess that idiot is gone), responding to allegations of rape by the Attorney General, and to another case involving a young female staff who was raped (allegedly) in an office in the Parliament House. Yep, you read that right - rape in the Parliament House.
Remeikis makes some excellent points.
Highly recommended
Remeikis got triggered by the fumbling, inappropriate response of Scott Morrison, the Australian Prime Minister at the time (thank the goddess that idiot is gone), responding to allegations of rape by the Attorney General, and to another case involving a young female staff who was raped (allegedly) in an office in the Parliament House. Yep, you read that right - rape in the Parliament House.
Remeikis makes some excellent points.
Highly recommended
January 29, 2022
On Reckong is a powerful read. Journalist Amy Remekis is amazing. Watching her on The Project on 25 January putting Peter Van Onselen so soundly and with such erudition back in his box after his vitriolic and unwarranted written attack on Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, earlier in the day was electrifying.
Amy Remeikis has spoken publicly about being a sexual assault victim. In the wake of Brittany Higgins going public with her alleged sexual assault in the actual parliament building, combined with the inept and barbaric way the government dealt with the revelation and with Brittany herself, it was time for a gloves off expose on sexual assault of women. People were deeply outraged and seized the conversation long held by the politicians back from them.
This incisively and very well written book on that topic is engrossing. It has much passion, rage, and anguish in it.
On Minister Linda Reynolds who treated Brittany Higgins so deplorably and acted with such duplicity, Amy Remeikis says: “At the time, Reynolds saiid she had taken leave because of a pre-existing heart condition. Now she accused those who asked her questions of sending her there. Much like her claim that calling her staffer ‘a lying cow’ was due to the ‘pressure’ of the situation. After all, she was only human, right? “
On Scott Morrison’s excruciatingly insensitive and dismissive reaction to Brittany’s shocking revelation: “We live in a nation where needles placed in a handful of strawberries drew an immediate response from government. Laws were changed in a day. And yet that same leader needed his wife to draw a link from an alleged rape to his daughters before he could be nudged towards ordering a review.”
On women who show anger or don’t toe the line by behaving as men demand that they should , Remeikis wrote : “An angry woman is a shrew, unattractive, unlovable, and in need of taming.” On reading this, it was almost as if Ramekis had a premonition of the confected outrage and backlash that would be directed at the (untamed) Grace Tame by men and “crumb maiden” women for merely failing to smile at Scott Morrison at a function hosted at The Lodge on 25 January 2022.
I recommend On Reckoning as a confronting book that should be read by all women.
Amy Remeikis has spoken publicly about being a sexual assault victim. In the wake of Brittany Higgins going public with her alleged sexual assault in the actual parliament building, combined with the inept and barbaric way the government dealt with the revelation and with Brittany herself, it was time for a gloves off expose on sexual assault of women. People were deeply outraged and seized the conversation long held by the politicians back from them.
This incisively and very well written book on that topic is engrossing. It has much passion, rage, and anguish in it.
On Minister Linda Reynolds who treated Brittany Higgins so deplorably and acted with such duplicity, Amy Remeikis says: “At the time, Reynolds saiid she had taken leave because of a pre-existing heart condition. Now she accused those who asked her questions of sending her there. Much like her claim that calling her staffer ‘a lying cow’ was due to the ‘pressure’ of the situation. After all, she was only human, right? “
On Scott Morrison’s excruciatingly insensitive and dismissive reaction to Brittany’s shocking revelation: “We live in a nation where needles placed in a handful of strawberries drew an immediate response from government. Laws were changed in a day. And yet that same leader needed his wife to draw a link from an alleged rape to his daughters before he could be nudged towards ordering a review.”
On women who show anger or don’t toe the line by behaving as men demand that they should , Remeikis wrote : “An angry woman is a shrew, unattractive, unlovable, and in need of taming.” On reading this, it was almost as if Ramekis had a premonition of the confected outrage and backlash that would be directed at the (untamed) Grace Tame by men and “crumb maiden” women for merely failing to smile at Scott Morrison at a function hosted at The Lodge on 25 January 2022.
I recommend On Reckoning as a confronting book that should be read by all women.
January 29, 2022
Loved this. It was like reading my own thoughts about the goings on of the last year but articulated in a much better way. Amy has a real gift of always getting her point across regardless of how she's feeling, something I greatly admire because I can't do this.
I'm angry all over again, not that the feeling ever really went away but I'm also hopeful that I'll be better able to get my point across next time I'm discussing this topic with others after reading this.
I'm angry all over again, not that the feeling ever really went away but I'm also hopeful that I'll be better able to get my point across next time I'm discussing this topic with others after reading this.
March 28, 2022
Beautifully eloquent book, with a clear message.
The Government's response to sexual assault allegations in parliament are addressed, and highlight a lack of understanding and the absence of male political will to create change.
For me the key message is summed up in this line "None of us are equal until all of us are."
The Government's response to sexual assault allegations in parliament are addressed, and highlight a lack of understanding and the absence of male political will to create change.
For me the key message is summed up in this line "None of us are equal until all of us are."
July 4, 2025
In this short book, Amy Remeikis chronicles the rage that she and so many women felt following the Brittany Higgins story of rape in Australia’s national Parliament House. The clincher was the lacklustre comments from then PM Scott Morrison, whose wife needed to ask him what he would want to happen if it were his daughters coming forward with this allegation before he realised a somewhat supportive response was needed. Living with the aftermath of sexual assault is something that the author and so many women have to deal with every day and the mishandling of this case fueled rage that became a reckoning. Reading this book took me right back to that time and I would recommend it as a reminder to maintain the rage!
May 22, 2022
3.5 stars from me, great little book (and I’m a big aficionado of this series: little books, big ideas). Feel like sending it to Scott Morrison to read and reflect and learn, the day after he lost the Australian election, so he could better understand why he lost ‘the women’s vote’ Powerfully told and analysed with respect to rape allegations in Parliament House. I’m grateful a young woman took the time to refute and explain how objectionable his response, or lack of, was. Well written, just a bit disappointed with the closing chapter; seemed a bit weak? The anger lost its blast but by god we held them to a reckoning yesterday!!
April 2, 2022
A righteous read which suffered a little from the slightness of short-form.
February 26, 2022
Every single human needs to read this book.
Amy, thank you for articulating my rage. Thank you for creating a safe space for us survivors, and helping us not feel so alone and helping us reconsider feelings of shame.
Amy, thank you for articulating my rage. Thank you for creating a safe space for us survivors, and helping us not feel so alone and helping us reconsider feelings of shame.
March 18, 2022
Political reporter for The Guardian, Amy Remeikis, is outraged. And, because her writing is so pointed, so articulate, and so powerful, her readers cannot help but be similarly outraged. In 102 pages of searing writing, Remeikis does not hold back in her criticism of the ineptitude of our government in dealing with (or NOT dealing with) the issues of sexual assault and harassment taking place within the supposedly "hallowed" halls of government and in the world outside it. Following the explosive public statements made by staffer Brittany Higgins regarding her rape in a minister's parliamentary office after hours, Remeikis highlights the blunders and outright insult of our leaders in making the rape a political "problem" and how conversations were stifled and questions dodged by those who were meant to work for the protection of all their constituents.
I read the ferocity of her comments with admiration for her willingness to share her personal experiences of rape and sexual harassment and her acknowledgement of the continuing impact of the trauma on her life. Her emotional and psychological intelligence allowed her to analyse with precision the responses of survivors to the inadequate handling of these issues, particularly referring to the behaviour of the PM Scott Morrison, who needed his wife's "clarity" before he could understand the intensity or criminality of Brittany Higgins' experience. Morrison's lame response that he was told to think of this as a father of daughters was one of the most frustrating and blatantly insulting moments for Remeikis and readers who were looking for him to feel the human tragedy first as a man with a conscience , then as a PM, not contingent on his being a father.
"On Reckoning" is a MUST read! It lays out clearly the direction that our discussions must take to work out how to provide women with safety, how to reshape the confronting conversations as people realise the inadequacy and deafness of the politicians and take power into their own hands. This is NOT a political problem, but a human one that must be resolved by first acknowledging that it exists, even in our Parliament.
I read the ferocity of her comments with admiration for her willingness to share her personal experiences of rape and sexual harassment and her acknowledgement of the continuing impact of the trauma on her life. Her emotional and psychological intelligence allowed her to analyse with precision the responses of survivors to the inadequate handling of these issues, particularly referring to the behaviour of the PM Scott Morrison, who needed his wife's "clarity" before he could understand the intensity or criminality of Brittany Higgins' experience. Morrison's lame response that he was told to think of this as a father of daughters was one of the most frustrating and blatantly insulting moments for Remeikis and readers who were looking for him to feel the human tragedy first as a man with a conscience , then as a PM, not contingent on his being a father.
"On Reckoning" is a MUST read! It lays out clearly the direction that our discussions must take to work out how to provide women with safety, how to reshape the confronting conversations as people realise the inadequacy and deafness of the politicians and take power into their own hands. This is NOT a political problem, but a human one that must be resolved by first acknowledging that it exists, even in our Parliament.
June 16, 2022
I have been meaning to read this book since hearing Amy recite her story during the Brittany Higgins revelations. Her words slapped me across the face as I had often thought of things in terms of ‘what if it was my daughter/son’.
I purchased this today and devoured it in one sitting. OK, it’s not a huge tome, but it is a very important book on a very important subject which will challenge the way men (of my generation at least) think.
Many women will read this book, but EVERY man must!
Bravo Amy!
I purchased this today and devoured it in one sitting. OK, it’s not a huge tome, but it is a very important book on a very important subject which will challenge the way men (of my generation at least) think.
Many women will read this book, but EVERY man must!
Bravo Amy!
February 4, 2022
Eloquent and powerful. This book captures the collective fury roared by women in 2021, as well as the completely disappointing way calls for change are being handled. A short, personal and confronting ‘must read’ for everyone.
January 27, 2022
Must read. Excellent book and puts so many things into perspective. Rage starts here!
February 9, 2022
What an incredible read. I want to press this into the palms of everyone I know.
July 27, 2022
This should be required reading for everyone - especially men.
August 8, 2022
For a small book/novella it was definitely worth a read. Totally recommend it to everyone
September 5, 2022
Everyone should read this
February 11, 2023
Short but powerful.
August 7, 2022
“We live in a nation where needles placed in a handful of strawberries drew an immediate response from government. Laws were changed in a day. And yet that same leader needed his wife to draw a link from an alleged rape to his daughters before he could be nudged towards ordering a review.”
― p. 95
A tiny, gut-wrenching, oh-so-familiar read: I’d encourage everyone in Australia to read this book.
‘On Reckoning’ is not an essay of solutions, although they are evident in the text. Instead, it’s a compilation of what led us to this point in time. It’s a snapshot and flamethrower. It sends you back into those months and issues directions on where needs to be burned to the ground so that we can start anew.
“Suddenly, with the Brittany Higgins story, it wasn’t the male, pale and stale contingent pontificating from upon the hill. That shift created its own discomfort. Women journalists were suddenly accused of ‘activism’, for doing the same job they had done for years — holding power to account.”
― p. 74
Thankfully, in small mercy — we are no longer under a Liberal Morrison government, and we already see minute changes because of it. But it also highlights the cultural problems Australia has regarding how it treats sexual assault, abuse and rape. You can play all the respect advertisements you want, but without these conversations in schools, workplaces and homes, “consent” becomes a fuddy-duddy concept no one would take seriously. And how can you take it seriously when we have scrapped consent education proposals, yet men 15-19 make up such a growing number of rapists? That’s a statistic based on the events we know of, from those who have been courageous enough to share their stories: but it’s not a complete picture. We know it’s “not all men”, except you can’t treat them any other way: because it’s so many of them, and they’re men we know, and it IS men.
“By the time they are fifteen, almost two million Australians will have experienced at least one sexual assault. In 2018-19, 97 per cent of sexual assaults in cases recorded by police were carried out by men, with the biggest cohort of offenders aged just 15-19. One in three Australian women has experienced sexual violence perpetrated by a man since turning fifteen. One in four women has experienced sexual or physical violence by a current or former partner. One in ten women has been attacked by a stranger.”
― p. 59
This novella is such a stark and compelling read. There are so many lines that wrenched the heartstrings, shocked your brain, or put into words truths you know too well. It’s a rough read with many triggers, but it is handled with the grace and tact that belies the darkness of the subject.
“Your body can’t forget trauma. It holds the sights and the scents and the sounds deep in your tissue. It remembers exactly how that particular rush of adrenaline feels, how your heart pounds in your head, how your breath and catches in your throat. And while your mind rages in a haze of disbelief and confusion, your body keeps remembering.”
― p. 17
Reimeikis is as immaculate in her tone as she is in her sourcing. Her writing is concise and pointed. It could’ve been so easy for a white woman not to be intersectional in her discussions. But not once does she fail to point out the difficulties faced by First Nations women, women of colour, transwomen and non-binary women, and culturally and ethnically diverse women. She points out how thinking of someone as a family member is not empathetic but insensitive and inaccurate. Your daughter likely already has or will experience sexual assault. Your lack of emotional bandwidth and humanity is showing with a worldview so restrictive.
“Being thought of as someone else’s daughter is not empathy. It robs you of even more than has already been taken — not even your story is allowed to be your own, because someone is imagining you wearing another’s face as you tell it.”
― p. 30
She also made a point of discussion, my new favourite term: “crumb maidens.” Women who will tear others down to accept the crumbs patriarchy is offering. What an introduction, and how great it is to finally have a name for those who would instead sustain a painful power structure - rather than deconstruct it.
“In case it needs to be said (again), ‘women’ are not a monolith, and criticising another woman for being a bit shit is not anti-feminist. Having a vagina doesn’t automatically make you an ally. Morning teas and photo ops and Instagram-filtered feminism doesn’t mean you include all of us — just the parts that don’t make you uncomfortable, or threaten the systems that benefit you and your place within them. It’s amazing how quickly crumb maidens themselves crumble when the force of the systems they have been helping to uphold suddenly turn against them.”
― p. 85
Several powerful passages also cover how men reacted to the news around her and other female journalists. How online presences barrelled and trolled their way into women’s lives at the forefront of these discussions — and how their methods are not new. How it is not only sexual assault survivors but anyone who tries to change the status quo, flay themselves and offer their broken bodies and souls to the public, only for us to debate and decry experiences. How sexual violence survivors are the only ones we cast doubt upon. It’s sickening and true.
“Not everyone can tell their story. And no one has to. After everything else has been ripped away from you, your story is your own. Telling, not telling — none of it makes you any less brave, less worthy. Just putting one step in front of the other after all you’ve been through is more than enough. Your story belongs to no-one but you, and you don’t owe it to anyone to share. If that’s you, I hope you know you are loved, supported and thought of every time we have these conversations. There’s no right way to do any of this. Remember that, and do what it is that works for you.”
― p. 81
We’re in the midst of a reckoning. Here’s hoping it is sustained and that there’s change.
― p. 95
A tiny, gut-wrenching, oh-so-familiar read: I’d encourage everyone in Australia to read this book.
‘On Reckoning’ is not an essay of solutions, although they are evident in the text. Instead, it’s a compilation of what led us to this point in time. It’s a snapshot and flamethrower. It sends you back into those months and issues directions on where needs to be burned to the ground so that we can start anew.
“Suddenly, with the Brittany Higgins story, it wasn’t the male, pale and stale contingent pontificating from upon the hill. That shift created its own discomfort. Women journalists were suddenly accused of ‘activism’, for doing the same job they had done for years — holding power to account.”
― p. 74
Thankfully, in small mercy — we are no longer under a Liberal Morrison government, and we already see minute changes because of it. But it also highlights the cultural problems Australia has regarding how it treats sexual assault, abuse and rape. You can play all the respect advertisements you want, but without these conversations in schools, workplaces and homes, “consent” becomes a fuddy-duddy concept no one would take seriously. And how can you take it seriously when we have scrapped consent education proposals, yet men 15-19 make up such a growing number of rapists? That’s a statistic based on the events we know of, from those who have been courageous enough to share their stories: but it’s not a complete picture. We know it’s “not all men”, except you can’t treat them any other way: because it’s so many of them, and they’re men we know, and it IS men.
“By the time they are fifteen, almost two million Australians will have experienced at least one sexual assault. In 2018-19, 97 per cent of sexual assaults in cases recorded by police were carried out by men, with the biggest cohort of offenders aged just 15-19. One in three Australian women has experienced sexual violence perpetrated by a man since turning fifteen. One in four women has experienced sexual or physical violence by a current or former partner. One in ten women has been attacked by a stranger.”
― p. 59
This novella is such a stark and compelling read. There are so many lines that wrenched the heartstrings, shocked your brain, or put into words truths you know too well. It’s a rough read with many triggers, but it is handled with the grace and tact that belies the darkness of the subject.
“Your body can’t forget trauma. It holds the sights and the scents and the sounds deep in your tissue. It remembers exactly how that particular rush of adrenaline feels, how your heart pounds in your head, how your breath and catches in your throat. And while your mind rages in a haze of disbelief and confusion, your body keeps remembering.”
― p. 17
Reimeikis is as immaculate in her tone as she is in her sourcing. Her writing is concise and pointed. It could’ve been so easy for a white woman not to be intersectional in her discussions. But not once does she fail to point out the difficulties faced by First Nations women, women of colour, transwomen and non-binary women, and culturally and ethnically diverse women. She points out how thinking of someone as a family member is not empathetic but insensitive and inaccurate. Your daughter likely already has or will experience sexual assault. Your lack of emotional bandwidth and humanity is showing with a worldview so restrictive.
“Being thought of as someone else’s daughter is not empathy. It robs you of even more than has already been taken — not even your story is allowed to be your own, because someone is imagining you wearing another’s face as you tell it.”
― p. 30
She also made a point of discussion, my new favourite term: “crumb maidens.” Women who will tear others down to accept the crumbs patriarchy is offering. What an introduction, and how great it is to finally have a name for those who would instead sustain a painful power structure - rather than deconstruct it.
“In case it needs to be said (again), ‘women’ are not a monolith, and criticising another woman for being a bit shit is not anti-feminist. Having a vagina doesn’t automatically make you an ally. Morning teas and photo ops and Instagram-filtered feminism doesn’t mean you include all of us — just the parts that don’t make you uncomfortable, or threaten the systems that benefit you and your place within them. It’s amazing how quickly crumb maidens themselves crumble when the force of the systems they have been helping to uphold suddenly turn against them.”
― p. 85
Several powerful passages also cover how men reacted to the news around her and other female journalists. How online presences barrelled and trolled their way into women’s lives at the forefront of these discussions — and how their methods are not new. How it is not only sexual assault survivors but anyone who tries to change the status quo, flay themselves and offer their broken bodies and souls to the public, only for us to debate and decry experiences. How sexual violence survivors are the only ones we cast doubt upon. It’s sickening and true.
“Not everyone can tell their story. And no one has to. After everything else has been ripped away from you, your story is your own. Telling, not telling — none of it makes you any less brave, less worthy. Just putting one step in front of the other after all you’ve been through is more than enough. Your story belongs to no-one but you, and you don’t owe it to anyone to share. If that’s you, I hope you know you are loved, supported and thought of every time we have these conversations. There’s no right way to do any of this. Remember that, and do what it is that works for you.”
― p. 81
We’re in the midst of a reckoning. Here’s hoping it is sustained and that there’s change.
May 13, 2022
Powerful.
Among other other questions, Remeikis asks “If we were to speak about how one in three men will commit an assault instead of how one in three women will be assaulted, would the inversion of language lead to a change in the way we think about sexual assault?”
I’m going to try it. In Australia, every week, one man will murder his wife. Isn’t that shocking?
Among other other questions, Remeikis asks “If we were to speak about how one in three men will commit an assault instead of how one in three women will be assaulted, would the inversion of language lead to a change in the way we think about sexual assault?”
I’m going to try it. In Australia, every week, one man will murder his wife. Isn’t that shocking?
January 26, 2022
Powerful and raw. Amy Remeikis has written from her heart. The anger and anguish are real.
We should all be angry.
We should all be angry.
Want to read
January 27, 2022Great read, for an older reader it reinforces how we have for far too long responded as male society has determined we should rather than how we feel.
August 4, 2024
Passionate, honest, and packs a much needed punch to misogynists everywhere. Must read.
August 22, 2022
TW: sexual assault, rape, misogyny
Words can’t articulate the collective pain, rage and discomfort of women and non binary people after Brittany Higgins went public about the horrendous assault she experienced by a colleague whilst working in parliament.
No person should ever felt unsafe. At work, walking home, in their own home.
Amy’s words resonated with me. As a survivor myself, I can’t express how deeply ScoMo’s comments scarred me. A visceral fire developed in my veins that made me feel anger. The same anger I felt years later after understanding and coming to terms with my own experience of assault.
If you haven’t experienced sexual assault directly, you know someone who has. 1 in 4 women and non binary people have. Most women experience violence from a man they know. At least 1 women is murdered a week by their partners. This is information that everyone should know. No more burying your head in the sand, this is a time for reckoning.
Words can’t articulate the collective pain, rage and discomfort of women and non binary people after Brittany Higgins went public about the horrendous assault she experienced by a colleague whilst working in parliament.
No person should ever felt unsafe. At work, walking home, in their own home.
Amy’s words resonated with me. As a survivor myself, I can’t express how deeply ScoMo’s comments scarred me. A visceral fire developed in my veins that made me feel anger. The same anger I felt years later after understanding and coming to terms with my own experience of assault.
If you haven’t experienced sexual assault directly, you know someone who has. 1 in 4 women and non binary people have. Most women experience violence from a man they know. At least 1 women is murdered a week by their partners. This is information that everyone should know. No more burying your head in the sand, this is a time for reckoning.
July 10, 2022
Amy Remeikis' On Reckoning accurately expresses the rage and disillusionment many women felt towards former Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his government on early 2021. In this book, Amy reflects on the societal mood following the credible allegations against a former Liberal staffer made by Brittany Higgins and those made against former Attorney General Christian Porter. Written from the perspective of a prominent political journalist for the Guardian and as a sexual assumt survivor, On Reckoning taps into the hearts and mindsets of millions of Australian women stunned by Scott Morrison's lack of action, compassion, understanding and moreover, his inability to view women as human unless they have a direct relationship to himself. Reading a book that captured the rage and disgust I felt (and still feel) during this moment of 'Reckoning', was validating and powerful.
January 31, 2022
Righteous and articulate fury
Ms Remeikis has crafted a remarkable book that calls attention to a key challenge of our time: will we chose personal comfort and stability over dignity, honesty and integrity. The book makes it clear that this choice is a personal and institutional. Institutional corruption (from service to self serving) is causing individual trauma and eroding the trust that our society is built on.
This isn't easy to read, but it is a gem and I highly recommend this book.
Ms Remeikis has crafted a remarkable book that calls attention to a key challenge of our time: will we chose personal comfort and stability over dignity, honesty and integrity. The book makes it clear that this choice is a personal and institutional. Institutional corruption (from service to self serving) is causing individual trauma and eroding the trust that our society is built on.
This isn't easy to read, but it is a gem and I highly recommend this book.
March 31, 2022
Everyone needs to read this, particularly those who think women are making a big deal of things, and are the least likely to read it.
It's somewhat triggering to read about Amy's personal experiences, but it's all part of the bigger story which is one that needs to be told, read, heard, listened to and acted upon.
It's a pocket sized book with 102 pages (not including references) and can be read in a day, or sitting (depending on how fast you read). There's no reason I can think of for people not to read it
It's somewhat triggering to read about Amy's personal experiences, but it's all part of the bigger story which is one that needs to be told, read, heard, listened to and acted upon.
It's a pocket sized book with 102 pages (not including references) and can be read in a day, or sitting (depending on how fast you read). There's no reason I can think of for people not to read it
March 6, 2022
Powerful messages - we have to change!
The time has come for society to challenge what we have always done - it doesn't make things right just because thats the way things have always been done.
Remeikis wraps up these difficult issues with a powerful conclusion - "..this is not a woman's issue' and it is not for women to solve..... to address and speak on something that by and large is happening to them not by them"
The time has come for society to challenge what we have always done - it doesn't make things right just because thats the way things have always been done.
Remeikis wraps up these difficult issues with a powerful conclusion - "..this is not a woman's issue' and it is not for women to solve..... to address and speak on something that by and large is happening to them not by them"
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