Hilda Finds Her Voice

Author: Michael Fitzgerald

Trigger warnings: sexual abuse, restraint, isolation, racism, religious trauma, spiritual abuse, family separation, suicide

Summary:
Hilda Onley, now 83, has reached a six-figure settlement with the State of New York after filing suit under the Child Victims Act for sexual abuse she endured in the 1950s at the Hudson Training School for Girls. Onley, who was sent to the state-run facility as a teenager after giving birth, alleged repeated sexual assaults by a staff member and emotional trauma from being separated from her newborn. Her case is one of the oldest brought under the Act and among a small number filed directly against the state.