"I think it's magic," James (not his real name) says, showing his mum, Ruby (not her real name) a video that he's watching on her phone.
She smiles, then continues telling her story.
Ruby was only 17, and James was not even one, when she left an abusive relationship so her son would not grow up thinking violence was normal.
"I saw the whole cycle of it," Ruby says.
She saw it spelled in her ex-partner's words to his father: "Dad, you used to hit your partners".
Elders are leaders and domestic violence can become an intergenerational problem. But Ruby could not let that become her son's inheritance.
"What made me get out was having a child," Ruby says.
Don't silence the violence
Ruby's determination to end the cycle of violence gave her the strength to get out and speak out.
Her voice is amplified by a chorus of others across Western Australia, rising against domestic abuse in their First Nations communities.
One of these young and strong voices is Ruby's friend Taylah (not her real name), whose family started the Ochre Ribbon campaign to end domestic violence in its Aboriginal community after her aunty was killed by her partner.
"I don't want to feel what she is feeling, I don't want to imagine what she is feeling," Taylah says, describing how her mum still mourns her baby sister.
The family turned the pain and anger for what it describes as a "slap on the wrist" sentence into action, asking Aboriginal Family Legal Services to help it raise awareness with a message that is culturally focused.
"I'm just glad we have so many voices to speak out for us when we can't," Taylah reads out her cousin's text.
"Just make sure your voice is heard loudly."
Ruby and Taylah say young people, not just elders, can be role models in their Aboriginal community. They feel responsible for speaking about family violence where the issue has been silenced by shame and fear.
Aboriginal Family Legal Services' (AFLS) community engagement worker Shannon Meyer says the impact of colonisation is still evident in the reticence of Aboriginal people to talk about domestic abuse.
"Aboriginal people were always told from way back in colonisation days: sit back in your place, don't open your mouth," she says.
"We are too scared to get up and say something".
Fear of reporting abuse is also common, especially among First Nations people.
Ruby too was scared to file a police report for the threats she received, and for fear she could lose her child.
Getting the police involved got her the reassurance and support she thought she couldn't have.
"Just having that peace of mind from the police gave me comfort that I could leave and I would be protected," she says.
"That was my breakaway."
'Fearful of child removal'
Kalgoorlie Police family violence team coordinator Sergeant Chris Christian says that the lack of trust in the system stops victims from coming forward.
"It's understandable that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community would be fearful of child removal, it is part of recent history," he says.
"But from experience, it only happens when all other options have been exhausted to keep children safe from further harm."
Ms Meyer from AFLS says it is also hard for Aboriginal survivors to trust service providers when none of the staff members are from their community.
"We need more Aboriginal staff and educators in these positions that help the women come forward because they feel more comfortable with another Aboriginal person," she says.
When violence is normalised
Despite the likely under-reporting of domestic violence, it affects a disproportionately high number of First Nations people.
According to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, between 2017 and 2019 Indigenous females were 27 times more likely to be hospitalised for assault than non-Indigenous females.
Ruby and Taylah want to see these rates go down and can't accept that violence can be tolerated.
"Growing up, it's normalised. You see the aunties and uncles in abusive relationships," Ruby says.
"There are people dying from it. It's becoming normalised, and it needs to stop," Taylah adds.
Sergeant Christian says it is important to stress that family violence is not cultural. It is the product of disadvantage and intergenerational trauma.
"Domestic violence rarely exists on its own, especially in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities," he says.
"It often intersects with other issues such as housing insecurity, histories of trauma, and lower socio-economic status."
On a healing journey
In response to the higher rate of violence experienced by Indigenous women, the federal government is developing its first dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children.
The plan commits to working with victim-survivors to design solutions.
Ms Meyer says people with lived experience, "especially Aboriginal women who escaped and came out on top", can become mentors for others trapped in family violence.
Ruby and Taylah, both in their early 20s, support each other "wherever they can", but they want to help others too.
"When they are ready, they'll come. And I can be there," Taylah says.
Ruby used to think there was no-one there for her, but she was wrong, and wants to tell others that support is available.
"Sharing my story is part of the journey. It's very rewarding when I talk to other girls and let them get things off their chest," she says.
"I wish I had someone like that.
"Other ladies look at me and say: 'You are so young though, how did you manage to get out?'"
Ruby says it takes time.
She is still on a healing journey "to be whole again", but she's led by people who are positive examples for her and her son.
"He reassures me every now and then," Ruby says.
"He tells me: 'You are doing good, you know.'"
