Uncovering Abuse: Archival Evidence of Sexual Harm Experienced by Catholic Women Religious in 19th Century Australia

Despite increased scrutiny of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, abuse of Catholic women religious (CWR) remains under‑researched and under-acknowledged in existing histories. In 19th‑century Australia, CWR ministered amid sectarian hostility and imperial surveillance. In this climate, mere suggestions of impropriety were treated by church leaders as threats to ecclesial legitimacy. Anti‑Catholic publications spread sensationalised stories of clerical misconduct, while CWR were simultaneously targeted with rumours of sexual impropriety. This paper challenges the interpretation that indictments of CWR were sole products of sectarianism. It analyses key case studies, via archival records employing the hermeneutics of epistemic injustice to examine how sexualised gossip and defamatory accusations operated. It argues that many allegations involving CWR were strategically circulated by priests and bishops to undermine rival clerics, amplified by sectarian dynamics. The paper finds that CWR were subjected to direct sexualised abuse and secondary harms as collateral targets of ecclesial power struggles.