...when it came to organisations, police, lawyers, legal aid, etc.
I’ll never forget going to see this expensive psychologist asking ‘How do I keep my kids safe from their father after our IVO comes off, I’m petrified he’s going to molest them once he has access’
Her response was... ‘Put them on the pill’
Soul crushing... when your girls are 5 and 6!
What I started to realise and witnessed over and over again was although people had qualifications, they didn’t understand parts of domestic violence, intersectionality and trauma like I could and they couldn’t support me like I needed.
After years of studying, I completed Auslan and Counselling qualifications while trying to manage court, breaches and a new way of life. I was accepted into Swinburne to study a Post Grad in Family Violence. I started applying for local DV jobs. I’d get interviews but couldn’t nail the jobs. I felt like this was due to exposing my lived experience and was told on several occasions to conceal it however deep down I knew this was my greatest asset and I didn’t want to hide it.