Unveiled

‘I didn’t choose the cult life; the cult life chose me.’ Theophila Pratt was born Honey Faithful in Gloriavale, the fundamentalist Christian community that has been at the centre of decades of allegations of sexual and physical assault, and workplace exploitation. Raised in this isolated community, where a small contingent of men held all the power, Theo found herself questioning the hostile and controlling environment in which she lived, where women and girls faced oppression and abuse on a daily basis. When she decided to leave the community at age eighteen, Theo was dropped at a bus stop and left to fend for herself. Having been sheltered from the outside world, and with no knowledge of how society operated, she had to rebuild her life from scratch. Now a qualified occupational therapist, Theo is telling her story with a view to unveiling the secrets of the Gloriavale community, and empowering other survivors to break free of the cycle of abuse. Unveiled is a powerful account of one young woman’s journey to overcome the trauma of the past and find her voice.