Sleeping under the bridge

To the passer-by, Mel seemed like an ordinary teenager growing up in a middle-class suburban family in Sydney, Australia; but to those who wanted to get to know her, they could see she was hiding from the truth.

Mel had encountered more than most had experienced in a lifetime before she had reached 17. She yearned for freedom, yet what prevailed were threats, abuse and being trapped in an underworld of shame. With all her might, she tried not to give in to the loneliness that stalked her and...