Dirty Laundry: The Crimes a Country Tried to Hide

by Lily Arthur

At seventeen, Lily Arthur was caught between an era of women's liberation and the draconian ideology that young women should be punished for deviating from society's 'moral codes'.

For the 'crime' of being pregnant, Lily was forcibly taken from the man she planned to marry and incarcerated in a Brisbane Watch House, before being sent to work in a notorious Magdalene laundry.

Committed to the Holy Cross home for unwed mothers in Woolowin, Lily's son was taken from her in the labour ward and put up for adoption.

She promised him: "I will see you again, little one. I will see you again."

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A true story from the war-torn ravages of East End London to the far north of Queensland, Australia, Dirty Laundry recounts a journey that took Lily and a movement of women like her on a lifelong battle for justice.

288 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Jen McRae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lily Arthur’s memoir ‘Dirty Laundry’, is likely to become one of Australia’s most important accounts from the mothers perspective of forced adoption.
It’s currently one of just a few mother memoirs that have been published in Australia.
The first half explores her early life and the illegal removal of her son via the failed social policy of forced adoption. For fellow survivors this writing may be triggering so go carefully through these chapters.❤️
As an adopted person I was especially keen to read of Lily’s advocacy work, her court cases and political activism. There is much to be learnt from her experiences.
I was outraged to learn that the Queensland government has refused to meet with stakeholders to discuss the recommendations from the 2012 Senate Inquiry. Like much to do with past adoption policies and practices, governments, former institutions; perpetrators of child trafficking continue to believe they did nothing wrong.
Survivors need society to scream alongside us, for the long overdue justice that is due adopted people, their mothers
And fathers.

[Lyn Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Lily for the tireless efforts in bringing this story to the forefront. For too long women impacted by forced adoption have remained silent, living in a world of pain and shame. Treated in the most despicable and at times inhumane way by a society and its perceived standards, the story of thousands of women deserves to be told. The advocacy work alone is thorough and although at times it must have been heartbreaking and demoralising, Lily continued on because she wanted to see justice served. Was it? The reader can decide but Lily should be proud of all she has accomplished on behalf of those with whom she shared this journey.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Marg Fitzpatrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting book but as I had read about Lily’s story and also watched a video so there was really nothing new. There have been many books written on Forced Adoption such as the Girls who went Away and of course Dian Welfare’s book
It is a sad story about how young girls were treated because they happened to fall pregnant outside marriage. It seems society didn’t see that young men as being shamed. Most just walked off into the sunset without a worry. How these mothers must have felt and still feel being treated not only by the boyfriend but family and society as a whole.
I hope Lily has gained some comfort knowing people are reading such a harrowing story.
I would assume that if a girl was already listed with Welfare and then were taken into care because of her situation, I have come across this before and the babies are removed for their own protection especially while the mother is still in care and no mention of thirty days to revoke. The case I am aware of is that because the mother was in the care of Child Welfare for a number of years after her mother died and was placed with a foster family, when she became pregnant the foster parents reported it and she was placed in a home until she had her baby. There was no question of her keeping the baby at the time as she was still under the care of Child Welfare. The baby was considered to be in moral danger and put in home until the mother reached 18 and was able to reclaim her baby. She was told that if she could not provide a safe home for the baby by the time she was 18, then the baby would be placed for adoption. This mother was lucky enough to married the baby’s father and got her baby back. Without this the poor little baby would have been under Welfare until she was 18. This still goes on today. The baby is removed within hours. I call this forced removal
I cannot connect this with forced adoption where the single girl entered the hospital of her own accord and then was coerced into signing adoption papers by being told to do what is best for her baby.

[Stacey King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lily Arthur portrays a frightening and heart-wrenching tale that happened here in our own backyard in Brisbane not that many years ago. Like Lily, I was born and raised in Brisbane, and it is hard to phantom what she endured and went through just five years ahead of me. Brisbane, during my teenage years, was a very different place. Her experience and story of absolute horror at the hands of the Queensland government and Catholic Church is not really known. Lily's book is raw and honest. From the heart. She is one of the strongest women I have met who stood up to the injustice she suffered and sued the Queensland government to hold them to account. I am honoured to call Lily my friend.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

One woman's journey through the unjust practices of adoption in the 60's. It's hard--hard to take in, hard to fathom, and hard to hear the end of the story for now, which has no real reconciliation or justice. When will those in charge take responsibility? What would that look like and how do you go about working to right the wrongs of hundreds of thousands of people?

[Jane Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for sharing this gift of truth with us Lily.