In this week’s episode, Simon Royal’s exploration of a troubling, unsolved mystery in Adelaide more than 50 years ago, led him to the stories of women who were caught up in often tragic legal and social consequences.
Warning: This episode contains material that may be distressing for some listeners.
Journalist Simon Royal has been a regular guest on this podcast, talking about his deep dives for into some troubling episodes in South Australian history. InDaily
One of those stories – The Boy Who didn’t Matter – explored the mysterious death of 19-year-old Wayne Craill in the River Torrens in 1971. That story sparked a search through historical Coronial records and something else began to catch Simon’s reporter’s eye – the multiple deaths of women from so-called backyard abortions.
As Simon discovered, as he searched more records and newspaper cuttings, the legal position in South Australia up until 1969 had tragic consequences for individual women. It’s a terrible story – but an important one – and Simon joins us today.
Read Simon’s story on this topic here - https://indaily.com.au/news/2022/08/12/named-shamed-interrogated-while-dying-the-women-the-law-put-last/
For more of Simon’s work for InDaily go here - https://indaily.com.au/contributors/simon-royal-2/