Warning: This post deals with domestic violence and could be triggering for some readers.
Shirleen Campbell has, unfortunately, a lot of experience with domestic violence.
She has lost two aunties to family violence in 2014 and 2015 and her mother was killed in 2003 after a fight broke out in the car she was driving.
For Shirleen, this all culminated in a rude wake-up call, and she’s determined to make sure the next generation don’t have to experience that same pain.
We lose one woman every week in Australia to domestic violence, but that’s just the tip of a very grim iceberg. Post continues below video.
The 38-year-old Warlpiri and Arrernte woman, a mother-of-five, is a co-coordinator of the Tangentyere Womens Family Safety Group (TWFSG), developed by passionate Aboriginal women who identified a need for a voice and action on family and domestic violence issues. Its core focus is early intervention and primary prevention.
She said it was her personal experiences with violence that inspired her to create the TWFSG group, with the support of her elders and mentoring from Aboriginal rights campaigner Barbara Shaw.
Top Comments
It is a national emergency. Indigenous women in communities face levels of domestic violence up to 30 times the national average, and we've all heard the stories of young indigenous children who have been sexually abused and/or taken their own lives.
The question is why, and what can be done about it. It is cultural issues? Alcohol and/or drugs? Why is violence so much more common in indigenous communities?
if you want to be an ally, support Indigenous activists advocating for change. Read and listen to what they have to say about what is going on in their communities. Accept that colonisation and subsequent racist policy, upheld by governments for decades, have greatly contributed to disadvantage. Uphold the voices of Indigenous people and condemn paternalistic colonisers who wish to tell rather than listen.
This is fantastic, community led change. Indigenous women are leading change in this country, for both black and white Australia. There are many outspoken, intelligent black women pushing their voices out there and they are worth listening to.