STORYTELLING
AWAN attended the Yabun Festival on Gadigal land on 26 January 2023, and the COOEE Festival on 15 April 2023 on 15 April 2023 on Dharug land.
AWAN gathered survey responses Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women at each festival, who shared their experiences and understandings of domestic and family violence and sexual abuse.
The women who responded firmly believes that domestic and family violence and sexual assault hurts their mob. We present the findings of the survey results through storytelling from the perspective of an Aboriginal woman.
26 JANUARY 2023
YABUN FESTIVAL
This story represents the collective responses from AWAN's survey at the YABUN Festival on Invasion Day
This is a story of a 41-year-old Aboriginal woman residing on Gadigal land. Her story is the story of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
Her understanding of assault and abuse starts with invasion and a loss of culture – with her ancestors having been controlled and violated by white men.
She feels shame about her own abuse experiences and this stops her from disclosing and reporting for a long-time. She is burdened by intergenerational trauma and is concerned about her daughters facing the same issues of family violence and sexual abuse as she has.
She faces confusion as to who to reach out to for support. If she reaches out to the police and courts she will struggle. If she reaches out to a service, she fears having to share her story to people who will never fully understanding her and her peoples’ history.
15 APRIL 2023
COOEE FESTIVAL
This story represents the collective responses from AWAN's survey at the COOEE Festival.
This is a story of a 41-year-old Aboriginal woman who lives on Dharug land. Her story is the story of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
She is very aware of what domestic and family violence and sexual abuse is and the impacts within our communities. Most of her family and friends around her understand it too however, she knows that there are still mob out there that are not quite aware and don’t know much about it.
She has family and friends that surround her who she can reach out to however, she is impacted significantly by the mental effects of the violence she experiences. When facing these struggles, she is also impacted physically, emotionally and sexually, and at times isolating herself when overwhelmed by the trauma she endures.
It pains her to see how much domestic and family violence and sexual abuse is hurting our mob. There are a few community services she knows about however there just isn’t enough awareness about where to go and who to talk to. Cultural safety within a service provided is so important to her otherwise she does not feel comfortable seeking help from those services.
She is a big believer that communities should have more safe places for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children to go for support, culturally safe service providers with trusted people and ease of access, and to build more awareness around help that is available to our mob.
02 9560 5432
Addison Road Community Centre
Building 13, 142 Addison Road, Marrickville NSW 2204
info@awan.org.au
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Acknowledgement and Respects
The NSW Aboriginal Women's Advisory Network is situated on the land of the Gadigal people, of the Eora Nation. We acknowledge that they are the traditional custodians of the land on which we work. We pay our respects to our Elders past, present and emerging and extend our respects to Stolen Generations Survivors, their families and communities. We also acknowledge the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children who have experienced violence and abuse.