Kintsugi Heroes
Jas Rawlinson
Jas Rawlinson survived invisible abuse and spent a decade healing before becoming an advocate, showing that speaking out comes after safety, not before.
You don't have to be in crisis to call.
Jas Rawlinson grew up on the east coast in a house that looked normal from the outside. Her father was charming to her friends, but at home he created an environment of constant fear. There was no physical violence most days, but there was financial abuse, verbal cruelty, coercive control, and the kind of emotional harm that had no name in the late 1990s. At 10 years old, sitting on the lounge in her swimmers eating ice cream, her father's comment about her body lodged itself in her mind and stayed there for years, feeding into disordered eating and deep self-hatred. She never knew which version of her father she would come home to. She walked on eggshells every day.
Drama and theater became the place where Jas found a voice when she had none at home. By her late teens, as the abuse escalated, she began to push back. Her father ended his life when she was 18, which brought both trauma and an overwhelming relief she would struggle with for years. It took her a decade just to acknowledge what she had been through. Another decade of healing passed before she felt safe enough to speak publicly about domestic violence. At 30, with a regulated nervous system, a safe marriage, and a secure home, she began the advocacy work that would define her life.
Jas wrote The Stories We Carry to show survivors that trauma does not have to be a life sentence and that generational cycles can be broken. Since publication, teenagers still trapped in abuse and survivors in their 60s have told her the book gave them hope. Her message is simple and direct: do not wait for physical violence to get help. Abuse starts with disrespect, with words, with control. If you feel unsafe, reach out to someone you trust.
⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses abuse & exploitation, which some listeners may find distressing.
If you need support, you're not alone. Help is available: • Blue Knot Foundation (complex trauma): 1300 657 380 · blueknot.org.au • 1800RESPECT (family, domestic & sexual violence): 1800 737 732 · 1800respect.org.au
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