Season 2 Episode 16: "We Have to Remember Who We Are Advocating For": An Interview with Aboriginal Domestic Violence Leader Ashlee Donohue

About This Episode

In this episode, Ruth and David yarn with Ashlee Donohue, a proud Dunghutti woman born and raised in Kempsey, NSW. Ashlee is an author, educator, advocate, and speaker around the anti-violence message, and she is currently the CEO of Mudgin-Gal Aboriginal Corporation – Women’s Centre, which is for Aboriginal women run by Aboriginal women. Ashlee was also a keynote speaker at the 2021 Safe & Together Institute Asia Pacific Conference on the burning question of coercive control criminalisation.

Ruth and David talk with Ashlee about:

• Her thoughts on the criminalisation of coercive control in Australia and the pros and cons of this for Aboriginal communities

• The need for one single defintion of domestic violence

• The decision-making process for Aboriginal domestic violence survivors accessing services like calling the police can be very different than white or CALD survivors

• The importance of listening to the stories of Aboriginal survivors

• The need for cultural safety in the responses to domestic violence in the Aboriginal community

Read Ashlee’s memoir: Because I love him: One woman’s journey from wounds to wisdom