Last night I heard the screaming

On Friday night this week my flat mates and I held a small dinner party. We drank red wine. The entree was broccoli and chilli soup. The main was carrot and ricotta filo parcels. We had a rather disastrous custard and raspberry tart for dessert which provided much amusement. At around 11p.m. we decided to go into town to see a band and all six of us hopped into Danielle's five seater car. 

As we pulled out of the driveway, Danielle slowed the car, looking in her rear vision mirror. A woman was running towards our car, chased by a man. She was shouting to us to stop. We wound down a window to speak to her, but she kept circling the car, keeping the car between herself and the man. He chased her around and around. She was screaming. We locked our doors.

I called the police. It was the first time I have ever called the police. While I was on the phone everyone in the car was shouting. Someone shouted "I think she's pregnant." The woman on the end of the phone asked me "Are they Aboriginal or white?" I was so surprised by her question. I hesitated and said "They're both Aboriginal." The voice on the end of the phone seemed to be asking me more and more irrelevant questions. "You need to send someone now," I kept repeating. Her attitude to my call seemed to change markedly after she learned the race of the woman. I had a sinking feeling that the police would not come.

We drove around the block and called the police again. But by this time the woman and the man had gotten into a car and were driving away from the house. We watched as they drove straight past us. We gave the police the number plate and make. This time the question was "Are they caucasian or Indigenous?" 

We still drove into town to see our band. We drove in silence. Half an hour later the police called us back and said they'd attended the premises and they were vacant. I don't believe that they would have gone out at all, had we not placed the second call. 

Later in a bar, we sat drinking gin. All of us felt very strange about what had happened. Should we have opened the car door, pulled her in and driven her to the women's shelter? Could we have done more? We live in that street - is it right think of our own safety before someone else's? What happened to her?  Should we have let her know that we called the police so that she wouldn't have gotten in that car? 

It's very easy to walk around with blinkers on. We are all aware of the rates of domestic and family violence here and on community but I have never seen it. It's easy to sit next door and drink red and talk about social justice. It's not easy to see a woman being threatened with violence. It's not easy to work out what to do about it. It's not easy to genuinely commit to helping. And it's definitely not easy for the people who live it.