The team at The Red Heart Movement recently received an email from Sarah* (names have been changed to protect her privacy) detailing her experience in reporting domestic abuse she has experienced at the hands of a currently serving Police member in New South Wales. 

Sarah stated that in 2025 she was 8 weeks pregnant and attended a Police station in the South Western Sydney area to report her partner for serious domestic violence offending. Sarah provided proof of medically documented strangulation and allegations of false imprisonment. Police members she spoke to refused to apply for a Domestic Violence Order on her behalf and instead shared her personal details (including her name, workplace, photograph and home address) with other officers across multiple stations. She was then advised that her report was closed the same day after an “informal interview” took place with the alleged offending officer, with no protection provided to her and no disciplinary action for the Police officer. 

It was then made known to Sarah that the same officer had been reported for violence in the workplace against two female officers, these matters also dismissed by NSW Police with no further action taken. To Sarah it appeared to her that there was “not a single officer willing to take a stand” against someone allegedly and repeatedly committing violent acts, and for those females who had bravely spoken out, there was no justice served for them. Despite NSW Police touting themselves on social media as a staunch advocate for ending family and domestic violence, it’s clear that they have stood by and allowed the behaviour to continue. Like Holly Davidson with NT Police, Sarah was failed too. 

During her relationship with the Police officer Sarah’s eyes were opened to the casual callousness of Police members, from calling a woman who had fallen from from a balcony in Sydney NSW a “stupid bitch” to witnessing members sharing intimate crime report details and photographs from a child victim to civilians.

Sarah states that she feels failed by the system and is horrified that “there is a man out there who goes to work daily and carries a firearm…. He’s been painted as good man… despite others who also say otherwise… NSW Police allowed other alleged offenders to harass me and to tell me to stay away”. After failing to receive any assistance from NSW Police, Sarah has approached numerous domestic violence, legal aid and outreach services and has also been failed by them - leading her to believe that NSW Police has stonewalled any attempts to help her.

Much like in Holly’s incident, Police are in charge of investigating their own - this needs to change, it makes us ask: who is policing the Police?

DFV Quick Facts:

• The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare states that pregnancy and early post-natal period is a time of heightened risk for the onset or increase of intimate partner violence. Secondly the experience of violence during the pre and post natal period is associated with physical and psychological health issues for both mother and child (cope.org)
• Investigation by the QLD Centre for DFV Research shows that survivors who have experienced  non fatal strangulation (NFS) in a family violence setting are 7 times more likely to become a victim of an attempted homicide in a subsequent incident with the same perpetrator
• On average men have the capacity to exert 80 pounds per square inch (PSI) and women 40. It only takes approximately 4 PSI applied to the jugular vein area or 11 PSI on both carotid arteries for less than 10 seconds for a victim to become unconscious. Serious brain damage can occur on average after 3 minutes and death after 4 to 5 minutes. The pressure needed to be applied to the neck area to kill someone is equivalent to less than needed to open a ring-top can of drink.
• In 2022 and 2023, 16 and 21 NSW Police officers respectively were charged with domestic violence offences with 81 per cent of the offenders being males. Freedom of information requests made by ABC news revealed that several officers recently convicted of FDV related charges have kept both their jobs and firearms, and are still able to respond to domestic violence incidents in the community.
• In 2023 Australia’s Law Enforcement Conduct Commission recommended that FDV investigations involving serving officers should be, in the least transferred to a difference command. However at the time NSW Police Force rejected this notion, arguing it was “not always operationally practical”. 

Holly's mum Peta is advocating for Holly's Law to ensure a federal taskforce is appointed to investigate police officers who commit domestic violence. Please share the petition with everyone you know so we can make the world safer for women facing domestic violence. 

This update was penned by an Australian Femicide Watch researcher on behalf of Peta Davidson and runs with her approval.

#femicide #violenceagainstwomen #womenssafety #maleviolence #shematters