There are families in family violence

Although great steps have been taken to address the issue of family violence in Australia, the whole conversation still largely frames the problem as something that happens between adults. Children also experience violence in the home and it is time they were given a greater stake when reporting on and considering the issue of family violence.

This issue is deeply personal for me. My first memory when I was three years old is of being hit by my father after he discovered the label from a box of tic tacs I had stuck to a wall. He lined my sister and me up and asked who had put it there. She said it wasn’t her. I lied and said it wasn’t me either. He hit us both then asked again, who did it? Again she protested her innocence. Again I lied. When he started shaking us so hard it felt like my neck was going to snap, I knew I couldn’t let my sister take any more. I admitted what I had done. He discarded her to focus on me, roaring and slapping and pounding, my body his drum as he hit home his message. Whack, whack …