Pamela Denoon Lecture 2019 - Khadija Gbla by Experience ANU published on 2019-03-06T04:46:39Z The recent high profile case of Saudi woman Rahaf Mohammed Mutlaq Alqunun seeking refuge in Australia brings much needed attention to dangers women face in an international context. Once here, however, women in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities face enormous barriers to accessing domestic violence services. They are invisible in many ways, being under represented in data collection, disempowered by a lack of awareness of our health and social support systems and access barriers. They are rendered mute due to poor language proficiency, discrimination and community backlash. Victims face an increasingly hostile social policy framework that has set up significant delays in access to government-funded health and welfare payments and/or services. Khadija Gbla, an African Australian woman speaks to these concerns.