This collection brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars and experts from Australia and beyond to examine the persistent settler-colonial patterns of denial, ignorance and antipathy that continue to constrain the possibilities of truth and justice in settler-colonial societies. Written from diverse cultural and disciplinary perspectives, the chapters identify and analyse the social, cultural and political barriers to listening, hearing, and responding on the part of settlers,...

“Gladiator or toy?” Kaspar asks, as if it’s the easiest choice in the world.It might be an easy answer for someone branded, brainwashed, and who remembers no other life. But that’s not me, not yet anyway. I’m a cop—or at least I was until my cover got blown.Now, I’m a captive on a ship; one of the trafficked people I vowed to save.Kaspar’s a toy —a pleasure slave— content to warm our sadistic owner’s bed; he laps up the abuse he’s conditioned to associate with affec...

I’m drowning in myself, ripping apart.Torn from my life, I’m in a world I don’t understand. There are no masters, no kneeling, and no loving punishments to keep me grounded.Despite the smiles and care Jiao provides, I’m not his priority. I believe his concern is genuine, but his interest is professional. Casting my world into history is his aim, and for that I can’t trust him. The voices are getting louder; I’m losing time. I need to hold on, need to stay loyal. Master will...