Stepping Out Program

24/12/2025

12/12/2025

In it’s seventh year, Addi Road’s Hampers of Hope is community goodwill personified. Hampers of donated goods are distributed to people whose Christmas does not look like a K-mart commercial.

Many of our survivors are estranged from family of origin, living in social isolation and socioeconomic disadvantage because of their childhood s*xual abuse. Their Hamper of Hope, full of little treats and human kindness, are a reminder that community carrs.

Stepping Out has availed itself of Addi Road’s generosity over the years, starting in COVID when we delivered emergency food hampers. This was the first time we organised a crew for packing hampers and it was such a buzz to give back.

Thanks, Addi Road! Link for donations in pics 🎁💝🎁💝

05/12/2025

Stepping Out representing at WAGEC screening of “It Starts with US”, a short film about a youth program for kids experiencing domestic violence, using music to connect and communicate the fear and pressure they’ve lived with.

Highlights were Bailey and Xiao, two of the program participants of Project O whose pride and new confidence shone. Lowlight was that this important primary prevention program has since been axed. This film shows that art and music help when there are no words and also the importance of funding for primary prevention of DFSV.

Panel was facilitated by and Hannah Tonkin, NSW Women’s Safety Commissioner, and Aunty Dixie Link-Gordon, aunty in residence at WAGEC and Full Stop Australia.

(Christine Roberts and Tanya Lee from Stepping Out Board with Melissa Holmes CEO and Erin Stuart, Program Coordinator)
girls.emergency.centre

04/12/2025

Please donate to Stepping Out so we can continue to support adult female survivors of child s*xual abuse like Leanne.

When victims of child s*xual abuse speak out they often are met with responses like; ‘No, that didn’t happen’, or ‘Steve is such a nice guy he wouldn’t do something like that’, or ‘yes, I knew that was happening’, or ‘what did you do to make him do that to you, were you flirting with him’.

Stepping Out represents the older generations of women who for decades have kept secrets to themselves. They didn’t have peer support groups or networks to help them. It wasn’t talked about and people didn’t want to think about it. In the vacuum of silence, child s*xual abuse remained rampant.

But you can help this Christmas by supporting women living in crisis. We provide a range of trauma-informed services targeted to meet the needs of women who have been abused as children.

Make a tax deductible donation through the link in our bio or here;👇 https://www.steppingout.org.au/donate/

01/12/2025

International Day of Disability - 3rd December ✨✨

Tomorrow, Stepping Out will deliver its final webinar on the prevalence and impacts of child s*xual abuse in the disability sector with a focus on trauma-informed responses to disclosures. It’s FREE and conveniently timed for lunchtime at 12-1.30pm.

Tomorrow is also the International Day of Disability and the theme is “Fostering Disability Inclusive Societies for Advancing Social Progress”. Children with disability are up to 14% more susceptible to CSA. Many CSA survivors develop psychosocial disability as a result of childhood and complex trauma. Both CSA and disability raise feelings of social isolation which is exacerbated when the two intersect.

Please join us tomorrow to learn how to best support clients living with the isolating impacts of disability and CSA and consider how we can make our society more inclusive to advance the progress of humanity 🙏

You can register by emailing us at info@steppingout.org.au and we’ll send through the link 📧

29/11/2025

Repost

28/11/2025

Christmas is a tricky time of year for CSA survivors with all its shouty messages of consumerism and community. It can exacerbate feelings of social isolation and socioeconomic disadvantage, both impacts of childhood trauma through no fault of their own.

This is why Stepping Out is so pleased and proud to be part of the Addi Road community which looks after people whose Christmas does not look like a K-mart commercial. Their annual Hampers of Hope campaign is truly the spirit of Christmas - volunteers pack hampers full of donated treats for vulnerable members of the community to help through the festive season.

“Each hamper is a message of care, dignity and solidarity - a reminder that our community stands together.”

Today at social inclusion group, we decorated tags for the hampers in art class with Assemblage Sisters. We’ll be helping to pack hampers in a few weeks and, of course, our people will each receive a hamper for the holiday period. There’s even hampers for pets who are cherished family members.

Thank you to Addi Road for providing a community space where our people feel safe, supported and included 🎄🎄🎄
Addi Road Community Organisation
The Assemblage Sisters

25/11/2025

16 Days of Activism Against Gendered Violence - Day #1

Unite Against Violence: No More Empty Shoes Vigil

On display in Martin Place, 49 pairs of shoes represent the humanity of each of the women whose lives were stolen by gendered violence in the past year.

Stepping Out stands in honour of the women for whom child s*xual abuse (CSA) set in motion a lifelong trajectory of risk and harm. For far too many survivors, CSA is not an isolated event - it is a key driver of domestic, family and s*xual violence which can shape lives marked by complex trauma, ongoing abuse and disadvantage.

As we move through the next 16 days of activism, we honour both victims and survivors of gendered violence and call for systems that recognise a lifespan approach 🧡🧡🧡

18/11/2025

“Unite Against Violence: No More Empty Shoes” is a campaign to honour victims of domestic and family violence, advocating for change as part of the UN’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence.

Come show solidarity next Tuesday 25th November, from 8am to 1.30pm at Martin Place in Sydney CBD 🌹🌹🌹

18/11/2025

Another free lunchtime training webinar tomorrow at midday for frontline disability and community workers on the topic of trauma-informed practice when working with survivors of child s*xual abuse.

Contact us at info@steppingout.org.au if you’d like to join in 💜💜💜

18/11/2025

Thanks to Mady from Addi Road’s Australian Martial Arts Academy for our trauma-informed self-defense class yesterday, specifically for female survivors of child s*xual abuse. Requested by survivors and tailored to their trauma, it was a fun activity with the serious purpose of helping them feel safer and more confident in the community. It was empowering, envigorating and inclusive with lots of laughs, kicks and discussions around personal safety 🥋🥋🥋