Brittany Merrick left home for a girls' night out and has returned the reluctant, new and battered face of the fight against violence towards women.

The 22-year-old bravely posted a photograph of her bruised and swollen face, the result of an unprovoked Boxing Day attack in the Hunter Valley allegedly at the hands of a man she had only met a few times socially.

A court has heard how Ms Merrick was knocked unconscious after receiving at least three punches to the face from Tanilba Bay man Shaun Rudder, who had already knocked down Ms Merrick's flatmate, Brittany Norris, with a blow similar to a coward's punch.

It followed an altercation at a nightclub where Mr Rudder allegedly spat in Ms Merrick's face before she pushed him over and both parties were ejected.