Voices of Insight are de-identified narratives of people’s lived experience of domestic and family violence and other adversities. The narratives have been developed through the Insight Exchange interview process designed to affirm agency, uphold dignity and support safety.

These narratives aim to provide a more accurate account of what has occurred through highlighting the ways in which a person has resisted and responded to the violence used against them. They explore the context in which the violence has occurred, and how people, services and systems responded to victims of violence and how these responses were helpful, unhelpful or harmful.

• Anika - "I'm not a child anymore, and you don't hold any power over me."
• Lee - 'Wayne turned my head upside down and inside out.'
• Casey - 'We have a choice in life to refuse to be violent. As a proud Wiradjuri man, I make this choice every day.'
• Dorothy - 'The system failed me over and over again, but I have not failed my children... I’ve got this.'
• Joey - 'But just because he was there, I wanted to shed my skin after that night.'
• Jules - 'I don’t want people to necessarily tell me what to do because I am resourceful. Just listen to me.'
• Melinda - 'Violence is like a spider's web.'
• Marion - 'He said to my friend “I don't like you visiting because you make her far too independent.”'
• Janine - ‘I wasn’t going to get away unless I pretended I was gone’
• Laura - ‘I slept with my metal nail file when I realised I was vulnerable.’
• Gemma - 'I didn't want other people to see what was really going on.'
• Zoe - ‘The sexualised violence I experienced as a teen does not define me – I refuse it that.’
• Sam - "'She would have been wriggling in his lap.'"
• Lainie - 'I withdrew from the world to be safe.'
• Angela - 'I had to go along with it and be the good Catholic girl.'
• Ruby - 'He understands the system and how to play it.'
  
• Bec -'My earliest recollection of violence is from when I was six.'
• Brianna -'"I will go after your family."'
• Maya - '"He's bound to be upset."'
• Melissa - 'His biggest threat was, "I will take the children."'
• Sandra - '"You've got to realise you have duties here."'
• Rose - 'I feel like there's an agenda behind everything he does.'
• Sophie - 'I didn't know what financial abuse was.'
• Sally - '"You're ok... He never hit you."'

Acknowledgement and thanks | The Insight Exchange team would like to thank each person with lived experience of domestic and family violence who has generously shared their insights for the benefit of others.

We acknowledge that no matter how accurate the representation of someone’s experiences of violence and adversity, we can never fully understand all that the experiences mean to a person now or through their life.  We understand that no one’s life experience can ever be fully represented in language or any other form.