She just wanted the violence to stop

The strict conditions of bail were that the client must return to her community and remain there until the trial. These conditions were culturally inappropriate in this case as the client informed her that she would be dealt with in a punitive manner by female relatives in her home town - with a customary beating - as they would find the repugnant allegation of sibling rape incomprehensible to accept.

When the case worker appealed to alter the bail conditions of her client she said she was totally staggered when told: “Don’t let it worry you love she’s only a drunken black from the river bed.”

Thankfully for the client in this unfortunate situation her case worker’s protests on culturally appropriate grounds and threats to go a higher authority brought about the desired outcome with a more flexible and satisfactory bail condition.

Delegates in unison shared their concerns about another of Bessie’s poignant points of “children who have grown to think that violence is part of our life and that it’s normal,” as they grappled with potential solutions to address this growing dilemma.

The creation of a safe home environment for Indigenous women and their children was paramount to the long-term strategy of Sergeant Travis Lupton of the Western Australian Police Service. Based in his home town of Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley, where he rose from Aboriginal police aide to the rank of Sergeant, Sgt Lupton has witnessed a remarkable transformation in the way offences of domestic violence are handled.

Sgt Lupton spoke of his desire to have his team of officers return to a style of community policing of old where they ventured into the community and engaged informally with residents over a cup of tea or coffee. The journey, however, to this ideal position was not without its teething problems as Sgt Lupton reported to the forum that he had to let seven dissenting officers from his team go who found community policing problematic.

Sgt Lupton proudly reported new domestic violence statistics that would not translate too well in Canberra if viewed literally, but for him the increase in incidents of reported assaults in the community was a sign that community policing was working.

Whereby other Indigenous communities’ female residents fail to report acts of violence committed against them as a result of apathy shown in past dealings with incompetent and distrustful police officers, Fitzroy Crossing’s Indigenous women are now assertively reporting abusive partners because they know their stories will be acted on and not disregarded. A case in point was a story shared by Sgt Lupton when he was called to a house to investigate a stabbing incident.

When Sgt Lupton interviewed the offender he was informed by her that she was severely beaten by her partner when he returned home late the previous night after his fill of alcohol and she waited until he went to sleep and stabbed him. When asked if she wanted to press charges, for the obvious assault committed by her partner, she said no. When asked why not - the offender said that she loved her partner and didn’t want him sent to jail.

She just wanted the violence to stop.

It would appear Fitzroy Crossing is typical however of most Indigenous communities whereby the women have indicated that they don’t particularly want to have their partners arrested and incarcerated - they simply want the violence to come to an end.

High profile Darwin radio commentator and former star Aussie Rules footballer, Charlie King, spoke of his campaign to form men’s groups throughout the Northern Territory. His current project involves signing up Indigenous community Aussie Rules teams to a contract where players who assault their partners would be excluded from team selection. Teams have also agreed to link arms before each game played to send a clear message of solidarity against violence to women and their children.