Ashlee Donohue is a proud Dunghutti woman from Kempsey in New South Wales, and looks to Yuin/Wiradjuri Elder Bronwyn Penrith as a mentor, role model and friend.
A vocal advocate for women and domestic violence, Donohue is the former CEO of the Mudgin-Gal Aboriginal Women’s Centre. She thanks Penrith, who gave her a job in business administration at the centre back in 1997 – a job which she credits for changing her life.
Penrith also gave Donohue the guidance to educate herself on domestic violence, sparking her courage to leave a dangerous relationship she was in.
A bond formed through the lifesaving work of a self-determined Aboriginal organisation that has been supporting women and families for decades.
A special bond
Donohue says the support that Penrith and Mudgin-Gal gave her was invaluable. “I often say had Mudgin-Gal not found me, I don’t know where I would have been,” she says.
Since Donohue started at the centre she has completed a Master of Education, published a book about her own domestic violence experiences and continued to provide a platform for important messages through her work.
“I’m a survivor of extreme domestic violence,” she says. “So through my own lived experience around the anti-violence message, I try to now educate and advocate for women that are going through it, who didn’t have anyone to speak up for them.”
Penrith is the chairperson of Mudgin-Gal and a respected Elder, admired by people in her communities for her leadership and making positive change.
“I did come to Sydney and meet up in the early 70s with a group of people … ” Penrith says. “We lived and breathed black politics. That was the beginning of the Aboriginal organisations in Redfern and that struggle, the land rights struggle and a struggle for the embassy.”
“We were only very young and I think we had a belief that we could make change and I still hold that belief today.”
Photograph: Brendan Blacklock
Helping and community
Pernith and Donohue both say helping and the community are at the core of their work.
“Helpfulness is not only the physical things you do for people; you can be emotionally there,” Penrith says.
“It can be a kind word, a meal. It can be a cup of coffee or sometimes just being interested in their lives. Interested in their kids.”
Donohue says: “The important thing is for women to know that they’re not alone. Because, you know, you get in these domestic violence relationships and you can’t see past the end of your own nose. You’re not alone. There’s help out there. I’m here to help. I’m here to guide.”
A public service announcement posted to a Mudgin-Gal social media page highlights the appalling domestic violence statistics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and contains critical messages.
Donohue says: “It is important to acknowledge that domestic violence is not a traditional aspect of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander cultures. And that violence against our women cannot be understood without recognising the impacts of colonisation, racism and the continuation of that impact today.”
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experience both far higher rates and more severe forms of domestic violence compared to non-Indigenous women.”
Ashlee Donohue’s granddaughter at Mudgin-Gal Aboriginal Women’s Centre
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The women’s place
Mudgin-Gal is a traditional name from the New South Wales South Coast, meaning women’s place.
Located on Gadigal Country in the Sydney inner city suburb of Redfern, Mudgin-Gal has provided a safe haven and lifesaving services for women and vulnerable people for decades.
It first opened its doors in the early 90s, and since then has been a safe space for many, providing essential support, award-winning training, and a place in the community offering security for women and their families.
It’s a drop-in centre offering a hot cup of tea or coffee, a listening ear for those in need, and a bathroom and laundry for vulnerable people who need a hot shower. It’s also a meeting place that helps families in crisis and domestic violent situations, providing the tools and foundations they need for safer and brighter futures. It offers peer-to-peer services, from legal and accommodation referral, to medical and education.
The organisation prides itself on its work empowering and uplifting women, girls and young people, who then, in turn, uplift their own families and communities.
Mudgin-Gal received recognition for its work in 2004 when a campaign it created, Black Out Violence, won the Violence Against Women Prevention Award. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission cited the program as a best-practice model for addressing violence in urban communities.
Penrith talks of the importance of community.
“It’s incredibly important to us as Aboriginal people to help one another and to be there for each other,” she says. “There is so much to do. We’ve come a long way. We’ve got a long way to go.”
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