There are two choices. Taking the bashing, or losing your kids.

That's it, the choice for some Indigenous women in Australia, says the chief executive of the Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention and Legal Service, Antoinette Braybrook.

It is entirely understandable that many Indigenous Australians feel they have not been well represented in and consulted by the political system in the past. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Indigenous women are so afraid their children will be removed they continue to endure violence just to keep their families together. They've seen what happened to their own mothers torn from their mothers. And they don't want it to happen again. Braybrook's been in this struggle for decades and can tell you that these women are too frightened to call for help. If they call the police, they know the police will end up notifying child protection.

"And then your kids will be taken from you, just like that," she says. "There are more kids being removed now from their mums and their families than at any time since settlement."