Abuse survivor Grace Tame targeted by online trolls after bike accident

Former Australian Of The Year Grace Tame has been taunted with cruel messages after she was injured falling from a bike.

Sexual assault survivor Grace Tame has copped a savage pile-on from vicious online trolls after being rushed to hospital following a serious accident.

Ms Tame suffered a broken collarbone after the bike crash.

Ms Tame posted a photo to her Instagram story, showing her smiling face with her right thumb up, but her left arm was in a sling and had a nasty-looking graze.

It happened after Ms Tame crashed her bike, she explained.

“Bike stack, broken collarbone, thank you for understanding that we may take a while to respond,” she wrote.

“Out of hospital now and on the mend.”

Ms Tame was flooded with messages of support from fans and followers across Australia, but not everybody wished her well.

The 27-year-old also copped a barrage of personal attacks.

In response to her bike crash, one cruel internet trolls wrote: “Well that’ll give her something to scowl about.”

Another responded: “Ouch! It looks like she fell off her high horse.”

Earlier this week Ms Tame offered her first public explanation of her actions at an event at The Lodge with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, where she stood unsmiling next to him.

She has repeatedly criticised Mr Morrison for his stance on women’s safety issues in the lead-up to their meeting, where she did not make eye contact, and had her hand in her pocket as she quickly shook his hand, before glancing away.

“My past is only relevant to the extent that I have seen—in fact I have worn—the consequences of civility for the sake of civility,” Ms Tame tweeted on Wednesday.

The tense moment between Grace Tame and the PM.

The 27-year-old said it was not just women who were compelled to act in a certain way.

“What I did wasn’t an act of martyrdom in the gender culture war. It’s true that many women are sick of being told to smile, often by men, for the benefit of men. But it’s not just women who are conditioned to smile and conform to the visibly rotting status-quo. It’s all of us,” she said.

Asked about the incident last week, Mr Morrison said Ms Tame had “a terrible life … ordeal” but that he would always greet guests with a smile.

He told Brisbane radio station 4BC he welcomed Ms Tame warmly, and didn’t deny he felt disrespected.

“I’ve seen all of that. Anyone comes to our home, when we invite somebody, we greet them with a smile, and they’re always welcome,’’ Mr Morrison said.

The focus of the day was supposed to be about this year’s finalists, not Ms Tame, he said.

“And that day, that day was actually about all the finalists coming to celebrate. And the previous Australians of the Year were there,” he said.

Originally published as Abuse survivor Grace Tame targeted by online trolls after bike accident