The Spinoff launches new podcast Dear Jane

The Spinoff has launched Dear Jane, a new podcast series in five parts about a youth group, a betrayal of trust and the search for answers.

Produced over 15 months, award-winning writer and podcast producer Noelle McCarthy explores one woman’s experience of what she believed as a teenager to be a loving relationship in an Auckland church community during the 1990s. It was a sexual relationship with a man who was not only ten years her senior, but also her youth group leader.

In the decades since their connection ended Jane, now in her forties, has struggled to process what happened in her youth. She spent years holding herself equally responsible for the damage that came in the wake of the abuse. 

Now, with McCarthy’s help, Jane is trying to connect the dots between her stolen youth and the guilt, shame and trauma she’s carried since. Through the telling of Jane’s story, the series aims to shed light on a form of sexual abuse that is historically underreported, and to spark a wider conversation about how an experience like this can have a devastating impact on survivors’ lives.

“It was new for me to work so deeply with someone who is a survivor of trauma and I had a lot to learn. Seeing up close how Jane – a brave, vulnerable, complex woman – deals with this ongoing reality made for an extraordinary story,” says McCarthy.

For Jane, the journey is also about finding answers and ultimately a sense of peace. To do that, she sets out to come face to face with her abuser and take her power back. 

Dear Jane is made with support from NZ on Air.

*Please note, some names have been changed throughout the series to protect the anonymity of the people involved.