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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Lanie Tindale

By the time Sharon knew her daughter was in a DV relationship, it was too late

Charli Powell did her best to hide the abuse from her mum, Sharon Moore.

But Ms Moore started to see signs that her 17-year-old was in a domestic violence relationship.

"He'd call her constantly [and] one day, I saw a bruise on the cheek," Ms Moore said.

"I just thought I'd open up, maybe tell her some stuff that I hadn't told."

Ms Moore finally talked to Charli about the time she spent in an abusive relationship.

"He'd broken my nose and he broke my jaw, used to stab me constantly, dragged me up and down the hallway," she said.

A coroner ruled that Sharon Moore's daughter, Queanbeyan 17-year-old Charli Powell, was in a domestic violence relationship when she died in 2019. Ms Moore is speaking out following recent rallies protesting men's violence against women. Picture by Elesa Kurtz

She described a campaign of coercive control from her previous partner - including extreme physical violence and stalking.

That is when Charli started to open up in turn, her mum said.

"She told me he used to choke her until she passed out," Ms Moore said.

"I was shocked at what she was telling me."

What happened next was even more disturbing.

Charli died on February 11, 2019.

Coroner Magistrate Harriet Grahame found that on the balance of probabilities, the teenager took her own life in the context of domestic violence.

Ms Grahame said she understood "Charli's family will be disappointed and possibly angered by this finding".

"I am sorry to exacerbate the grief that they are already suffering," the coroner said.

After learning the outcome Sharon Moore said she was "going to continue to fight" and seek a review.

Every four days

Five years after Charli's death, Australians are holding rallies and vigils to mourn 28 women who have died from violence this year.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with state and territory leaders, and declared men's violence against women a national crisis.

Women's boiling anger has saturated the news cycle.

Ms Moore is glad the issue is getting attention, but it is bringing up painful emotions.

Charli Powell. Picture supplied

She feels police ignored Charli's plight because she was a Wiradjuri girl who had been in trouble with them before.

NSW police did not interview Charli's boyfriend Rohan Rosewarne, who found her body in a public toilet block and called triple zero, until eight months after her death.

The coroner said Rosewarne had an explosive temper, made threats and was physically violent towards Charli.

He had her name saved as "Slut" in his phone, and sent abusive text messages.

Ms Moore said after Charli's death, one of Rosewarne's neighbours said she had called the police 14 times on Rosewarne.

"She'd seen him chase [Charli] down the road," Ms Moore said.

"Not once did [Queanbeyan police] knock on my door and say, 'were you aware of this?'"

First Nations women are more likely to be victims of domestic violence, and nearly seven times more likely to be murdered.

Coercive control and domestic violence is also prevalent among young people, according to a national study by the Australian Institute of Family Studies.

Charli's family and friends during the coronial inquest. Picture by Blake Foden

About 30 per cent of 18 and 19-year-olds had experienced intimate partner violence in the year until October 2023.

Why women stay

Ms Moore wants more family violence training for police, and programs to rehabilitate perpetrators.

She believes some police do not understand why women stay in abusive relationships.

"In Charli's case, I found the police had the mentality that 'it's just so frustrating because the women always go back,'" Ms Moore said.

"That's not the mentality you should have. Every time you go there, you're actually building up her confidence a little bit more."

Ms Moore believes Charli was on her way to finding freedom and happiness.

"You can't force a woman to leave because they're in love with the person that they've been shown [and] they're hoping to get back that person," she said.

"What they need to realise is that person was never real to begin with."

In a statement, NSW police said the coroner did not formally recommend that Queanbeyan police receive more training.

"The domestic violence fundamentals course ... is mandatory within the constable development program [since June 2021]," a spokesperson said.

"There is also a NCIS training module available online."

Govt funds 'gone in a week'

The government will allow victim-survivors fleeing abuse to access $1500 in cash and $3500 in vouchers.

The Coalition introduced a trial of the program in 2021.

Ms Moore, who has seven children, said it was not much money for women with families.

"What's $1500 going to do? It'll be gone in a week for accommodation," she said.

"There's no housing at the moment. Are they going to fix the housing issue? Where are they going to put these women?"

Sharon Moore holds an image of her daughter Charli Powell. Picture by Elesa Kurtz

'Would have changed the world'

Ms Moore moves her grandson's giant Bluey toy for the photographer.

Gazing at her daughter's face, smiling out from a school photo, she becomes emotional.

"She was so wise," Ms Moore says wistfully.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:

"I wish you would have met her. Then you'd understand, she was just a force to be reckoned with.

"She was just so compassionate, she had so much empathy ... I was just so proud.

"She would have changed the world."

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