Barbara Biggs
Encyclopedia
Barbara Biggs is an Australia
n journalist, social commentator, author and child protection campaigner.
and Britain's The Independent
newspapers.
Biggs' first book was a 2003 autobiography, called In Moral Danger, about her life up to the age of 22. The book tells of her sexual abuse from the age of 14 by a well-known criminal barrister. It explains the damaging after effects following her abuse, including time spent in a psychiatric hospital, escaping Cambodia weeks before it fell to the Khmer Rouge and being a prostitute in Japan. It also describes how she attempted suicide four times, received death threats and caused national headlines - all before the age of 22.
Biggs has been interviewed about her story written in In Moral Danger by some of Australia and Britain's leading journalists, interviewers and publications including Scotland on Sunday
, BBC4's Woman's Hour's Jenni Murray
, Australia's Robyn Williams
, Phillip Adams
, and George Negus
.
In Moral Danger has since been released in the UK (2004), New Zealand (2005), where it became number one on the best-seller list, and has been translated for publication in Sweden and Greece (2006) and Japan (2008). The book and its sequel is the subject of a feature film in production, funded by Film Victoria.
The 2004 sequel, The Road Home, is about her life from 22-42, culminating in a legal battle with the barrister who abused her at 14, which she won. The barrister died three months after the judgement. It also tells how she became a mother, classical pianist, journalist and property millionaire. Former Governor General of Australia Peter Hollingworth
wrote a foreword to the book. Two years earlier he had made comments about child sexual abuse and mishandled certain complaints made to him during his career as an Anglican priest. After reading In Moral Danger he felt enlightened by Biggs. In his words, "I accepted Barbara's point that I did not understand the 'emotional mechanics' of child sexual abuse and the long-term destructive effect on a victim's later life." He added "Her story will be an inspiration to others facing similar circumstances. Victims will see that they are not alone and will be encouraged to speak out about their own emotional responses to abuse."
Biggs' third book in 2005, The Accidental Renovator: A Paris Story is about her exploits in buying an apartment in Paris in 2003. A combination of travel book, gonzo-journalistic treatment of the seedier side of Paris life and 'gallery of characters' met whilst renovating the apartment in 2004.
Biggs' fourth book was titled Chat Room
and released in 2006. It is about a 13-year-old girl who falls victim to a predator (posing as a child) in a teen chat room. Some of the inside information of this novel was provided by the Australian Federal Police
and their files on offenders. It was also released in New Zealand in October 2006.
Sex And Money: How To Get More was Biggs' fifth book, and treats of her own lessons on how to get more wealth, power, sex, and happiness.
Biggs writes and speaks about how she 'fell in love' with her abuser, suppressing her real feelings about the abuse to mould it into a 'love story'. She said this was the most damaging aspect of her abuse, the effects of which lingered for decades.
In February 2009, Biggs convened the Safer Family Law Campaign, an organisation created to seek new provisions to the Family Law Act
that the group believed would remove barriers that might prevent women from raising allegations of family violence. Biggs organized a campaign which included an online petition and a series of YouTube
videos. Amidst the campaign, Family Court
Chief Justice Diana Bryant
said some changes were needed, but was critical of the group during a speech; on 2 May, Bryant decided to intervene by requesting that Attorney General
Robert McClelland
give "urgent consideration" to repealing parts of the Family Law Act
. Rallies, organised by Biggs in favour of the changes, took place in five Australian cities on 3 May 2009. The organisation continues to seek further changes to the Family Law Act and other Australian court practice that the group believes will benefit children and families.
candidate Greg Barber
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n journalist, social commentator, author and child protection campaigner.
Career
Biggs has been a journalist since 1989. She was a staff journalist for the Sunday Herald Sun in the 1990s and has since had freelance opinion pieces published in Australia's Herald SunHerald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...
and Britain's The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
newspapers.
Biggs' first book was a 2003 autobiography, called In Moral Danger, about her life up to the age of 22. The book tells of her sexual abuse from the age of 14 by a well-known criminal barrister. It explains the damaging after effects following her abuse, including time spent in a psychiatric hospital, escaping Cambodia weeks before it fell to the Khmer Rouge and being a prostitute in Japan. It also describes how she attempted suicide four times, received death threats and caused national headlines - all before the age of 22.
Biggs has been interviewed about her story written in In Moral Danger by some of Australia and Britain's leading journalists, interviewers and publications including Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by The Scotsman Publications Ltd and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate The Scotsman...
, BBC4's Woman's Hour's Jenni Murray
Jenni Murray
Dame Jennifer Susan "Jenni" Murray, DBE is a British journalist and broadcaster. She attended Barnsley Girls High School and has a degree in French and Drama from Hull University...
, Australia's Robyn Williams
Robyn Williams
Robyn Williams AM is a science journalist and broadcaster resident in Australia who has hosted the Science Show on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since 1975, Ockham's Razor and In Conversation .-Background:Robyn Williams was born in Buckinghamshire, England, and educated in Vienna and...
, Phillip Adams
Phillip Adams
Phillip Andrew Hedley Adams, AO is an Australian broadcaster, film producer, writer, social commentator, satirist and left-wing pundit. He currently hosts a radio program, Late Night Live, four nights a week on the ABC, and he also writes a weekly column for the News Limited-owned newspaper, The...
, and George Negus
George Negus
George Edward Negus is an Australian author, journalist, and television presenter. He previously presented 6:30 with George Negus on Network Ten, until it was axed by the Network on 19 October 2011.-Education:...
.
In Moral Danger has since been released in the UK (2004), New Zealand (2005), where it became number one on the best-seller list, and has been translated for publication in Sweden and Greece (2006) and Japan (2008). The book and its sequel is the subject of a feature film in production, funded by Film Victoria.
The 2004 sequel, The Road Home, is about her life from 22-42, culminating in a legal battle with the barrister who abused her at 14, which she won. The barrister died three months after the judgement. It also tells how she became a mother, classical pianist, journalist and property millionaire. Former Governor General of Australia Peter Hollingworth
Peter Hollingworth
Peter John Hollingworth AC, OBE is an Australian Anglican bishop. He served as the Archbishop of Brisbane for 11 years before becoming the 23rd Governor-General of Australia from 2001 until 2003....
wrote a foreword to the book. Two years earlier he had made comments about child sexual abuse and mishandled certain complaints made to him during his career as an Anglican priest. After reading In Moral Danger he felt enlightened by Biggs. In his words, "I accepted Barbara's point that I did not understand the 'emotional mechanics' of child sexual abuse and the long-term destructive effect on a victim's later life." He added "Her story will be an inspiration to others facing similar circumstances. Victims will see that they are not alone and will be encouraged to speak out about their own emotional responses to abuse."
Biggs' third book in 2005, The Accidental Renovator: A Paris Story is about her exploits in buying an apartment in Paris in 2003. A combination of travel book, gonzo-journalistic treatment of the seedier side of Paris life and 'gallery of characters' met whilst renovating the apartment in 2004.
Biggs' fourth book was titled Chat Room
Chat Room (novel)
Chat Room is a thriller novel that was published in Australia in 2006. It is the most recent work from Australian author Barbara Biggs.- Plot :...
and released in 2006. It is about a 13-year-old girl who falls victim to a predator (posing as a child) in a teen chat room. Some of the inside information of this novel was provided by the Australian Federal Police
Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police is the federal police agency of the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the AFP was created by the amalgamation in 1979 of three Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, it traces its history from Commonwealth law enforcement agencies dating back to the federation of...
and their files on offenders. It was also released in New Zealand in October 2006.
Sex And Money: How To Get More was Biggs' fifth book, and treats of her own lessons on how to get more wealth, power, sex, and happiness.
Child protection campaign
Since In Moral Danger was published, Biggs has become an advocate for social change and awareness about child sexual abuse. She now speaks about her life and child sexual abuse to a range of welfare professionals and private groups. She also trains foster carers about how to recognize and deal with children who have been sexually abused.Biggs writes and speaks about how she 'fell in love' with her abuser, suppressing her real feelings about the abuse to mould it into a 'love story'. She said this was the most damaging aspect of her abuse, the effects of which lingered for decades.
In February 2009, Biggs convened the Safer Family Law Campaign, an organisation created to seek new provisions to the Family Law Act
Family Law Act 1975
The Australian Family Law Act 1975, sometimes referred to as the FLA by legal practitioners, is an Act of the Australian Parliament. It is one of four separate Acts that provide the framework for family law in Australia...
that the group believed would remove barriers that might prevent women from raising allegations of family violence. Biggs organized a campaign which included an online petition and a series of YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
videos. Amidst the campaign, Family Court
Family Court of Australia
The Family Court of Australia is a superior Australian federal court of record which deals with family law matters. Together with the Federal Magistrates Court, it covers family law matters in all states and territories of Australia except Western Australia...
Chief Justice Diana Bryant
Diana Bryant
Diana Bryant QC was appointed Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia on 5 July 2004.Bryant attended grammar school in Melbourne, at the Firbank Girls' School. Chief Justice Bryant holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from Melbourne University, and a Master of Laws degree from Monash University....
said some changes were needed, but was critical of the group during a speech; on 2 May, Bryant decided to intervene by requesting that Attorney General
Attorney-General of Australia
The Attorney-General of Australia is the first law officer of the Crown, chief law officer of the Commonwealth of Australia and a minister of the Crown. The Attorney-General is usually a member of the Federal Cabinet, but there is no constitutional requirement that this be the case since the...
Robert McClelland
Robert McClelland (Australian politician)
Robert Bruce McClelland is the Attorney-General of Australia. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of theAustralian House of Representatives since March 1996, representing the Division of Barton, New South Wales...
give "urgent consideration" to repealing parts of the Family Law Act
Family Law Act 1975
The Australian Family Law Act 1975, sometimes referred to as the FLA by legal practitioners, is an Act of the Australian Parliament. It is one of four separate Acts that provide the framework for family law in Australia...
. Rallies, organised by Biggs in favour of the changes, took place in five Australian cities on 3 May 2009. The organisation continues to seek further changes to the Family Law Act and other Australian court practice that the group believes will benefit children and families.
Political candidacy
Biggs stood as an Upper House candidate for the then new People Power political party, in the 2006 Victorian election. Running for the Northern Metropolitan Region seat, she lost to the GreensAustralian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
candidate Greg Barber
Greg Barber
Greg Barber is an Australian politician, and Greens member of the Victorian Legislative Council.-Early career:Barber obtained a Masters in Business Administration from the Melbourne Business School and was a successful investor....
.