Gemma Speck

We don't talk about the promises that a boss makes that they're never going to fulfill.

We don't talk about a parent dismissing what you went through with them or in your childhood or favoritism.

We're one child over the other.

We don't talk about somebody taking your idea and exploiting it.

Somebody making promises and never coming through for you.

These are all acts of betrayal.

Finally, I think we don't talk about institutional betrayal enough and betrayal that can emerge on

On a macro level, from a school, from a workplace, from a medical organization, from the police force, a lot of times the news will spotlight these things.

And we don't often consider the people that are behind.

There are still relationships there that betrayal has occurred within.

And just because it's between somebody and an institution doesn't mean that it's not an interpersonal social hurt.

There is this huge case in Australia at the moment of, I think it's over 100 women, they had endometriosis and they went to this one doctor to get surgery.

And he would basically perform very severe, very aggressive, very unnecessary incisions and surgeries these women didn't need.

He'd often make their lives worse and he would cover it up.

His staff, the hospital he worked at covered it up, right?

How awful is that?

And it's awful as it is awful in all cases of betrayal because of trust, because trust was there to begin with.

The best quote I've heard about betrayal is, the most tragic thing about it is that it never comes from an enemy.

You know, these women trusted this man because he was a doctor, because he seemed to listen to them, because he said he'd take care of them.

In all cases of betrayal, this is the underlying thing.