“Human Trafficking, Family Violence & Hope After Trauma” – Brisbane local tells all in new memoir ‘The Stories We Carry’

OCTOBER 10TH 2022 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

In celebration of World Mental Health Day, Brisbane author and entrepreneur Jas Rawlinson announced the release of her brand new book, ‘The Stories We Carry' – a ‘powerful memoir' of her journey from a victim of family violence and sexual assault, to becoming a global speaker, best-selling author, and anti-trafficking ambassador.

Rawlinson was just a child when her father began to struggle with undiagnosed mental illness, eventually leading to severe emotional and verbal violence within her home.

As a teenager, Rawlinson and her mother had to ‘flee across paddocks' to find safety from her father's rage, and also spent close to a year in a ‘safe house' on the mid-north coast of NSW.

Rawlinson says she felt as though she were constantly ‘treading water', and wasn't sure she would survive the depression and suicidal ideation that ‘consumed' her. In an extract from her book, she writes:

“I'd been treading water now for eight years – half my life – and my ability to continue holding onto hope was diminishing by the day. It was naive to think that going into a safe house would make the pain go away. That it would wipe the slate clean, erasing the trauma as easily as a cloth swiping across a blackboard. As I was coming to learn, that's not the way that life works.”

Shortly after finishing high school, Rawlinson's father took his own life.

As a result, the teen found herself gravitating toward unhealthy and dysfunctional relationships, one of which ended in an assault.

On another occasion, she details an ‘orchestrated kidnapping attempt' by two strangers when she was 19. Rawlinson was able to escape that situation, but says it was the start of what would one day become a passion to learn and understand more about human trafficking and exploitation.

“It would not be the last time that I found myself in danger, over the years to come,” she writes.

“Little did I know that one day, I would be the one walking the streets at night, watching out for other girls. One day it would be me who was walking through red light districts and staring into the faces of young women who had been trapped in the living nightmare of human trafficking.”

Rawlinson moved to Brisbane in 2012 to pursue her writing career, and has since become a global resilience speaker, best-selling author, and anti-human trafficking ambassador for several large charities. She is also the founder of Brisbane's first domestic violence memorial, and was 1 of 12 Australians to be selected to star on the award-winning travel TV show ‘Adventure All Stars' as part of her philanthropy.

As a domestic violence advocate, Rawlinson says she's relieved to finally be able to speak up about many of her experiences as a young woman, particularly in light of Queensland's increased focus on criminalizing coercive control.

‘The Stories We Carry' has already received high praise from national charities and organisations, including Women's Legal Service QLD and Brisbane MP and Young Australian of the Year, Jonty Bush.

Ms Bush heralded it as ‘Raw, unapologetic, and so incredibly hopeful,' while WLSQ called it ‘moving and courageous.'

This is the fourth book from Rawlinson, who also authored a best-selling suicide prevention series named ‘Reasons to Live: One More Day, Every Day' (endorsed by influential names such as Kevin Hines, and members of Lifeline and Headspace).

To enquire about an interview, contact Jas Rawlinson on [email protected] or go to www.jasrawlinson.com.

To read more about The Stories We Carry, click here.