Taking a stand

Led by determined policewoman Suzanne Newton, an amazing group of women from the country town of Taree have come together to provide support and protection for women in distress. Together, they are bringing about lasting change.

After almost three hours’ negotiation with a frightened client, a harried hospital social worker and a busy magistrate, Senior Constable Suzanne Newton is mentally drained. But the domestic violence liaison officer has achieved what she set out to do: get a Taree magistrate to approve her application for an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (a type of restraining order) against a father of two who poses a serious threat to the life of his family and himself. 

The man, who has a long history of drug abuse, psychotic behaviour and domestic violence, was discharged from a Sydney psychiatric ward that morning and was expected to head to the town of Taree, where he lives. On hearing the news of his release, the man’s mother-in-law called the Taree Police Station as her daughter (the man’s wife) fled with her children to a safe place where they could hide. During the man’s latest spell in hospital, his wife informed him she wanted a separation – the woman, her mother and Senior Constable Newton were acutely aware that this announcement could trigger more alarming behaviour from the aggrieved and disturbed man. “All the statistics show that the most dangerous time in familial homicides is when the woman raises the possibility of separation,” Sue explains.

Alas, the domestic violence liaison officer knows what she’s talking about. She’s been to houses, time and again, where she’s found frightened women and children in distress. Sometimes a mother will have locked herself in a bedroom with her children to escape a man’s blows; other times, a woman in a pristine house will conceal cuts and welts, and vehemently deny her partner’s abuse – despite having called 000 only a few hours before.

Sue has been in the police force for almost 20 years. She started her career in Newcastle, where she was one of two women in a station of more than 50 men. There, she performed general duties and worked in the child mistreatment unit. During this time, the policewoman saw things that tested her mental strength far more than her colleagues’ patriarchal attitudes. “When you witness systematic abuse by a man who trained his greyhound dogs to penetrate a young girl for years, it turns your stomach,” she says grimly. “You know nothing will shock you as much again.”

By the time Sue was assigned to Taree in 1996, she had also experienced the frustration many police feel when dealing with victims of domestic violence. Inevitably, women are so cowed by years of being told they’re ‘worthless sluts’ and worse, it’s a long journey before they are emotionally strong enough to defend themselves and take control of their lives.

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