❤️HER NAME IS KATIE HALEY!❤️
She’s at every rally I attend.
A gregarious girl carrying a sign with a photo of a young woman and the words ‘MY MUM’.
Her name is Indie. Her mum is Katie Haley.
Katie’s partner murdered the 29-year-old on March 9, 2018.
Indie was in the room next door. She was 11 months old.
Shane Robertson used coercive and controlling behaviours throughout their four years together.
On the night she decided to leave, he decided to kill her.
Katie is Tania and Boyd Unwin’s first child and big sister to Bianca and Dylan.
Katie loved her partner, but it’s often hard to understand or recognise coercive control, her sister says.
“There was yelling and fighting, but it was not witnessed publicly,” Bianca said.
“He did those things behind closed doors.
“Looking back, we wish we could have taken action the moment we knew she was being entrapped.
“The moment we knew she couldn’t get away from him texting and calling … is definitely where we wish we’d have intervened.
“Now of course I see the red flags for what they are.”
It is easy for coercive control to fly under the radar.
“Katie never realised the abuse she was being subjected to,” her parents say.
“She was a victim of coercive control, but this turned to physical violence of the most violent level when she chose to leave.”
Katie was hard-working, a determined and loving mum, funny, quick-witted and loyal to her family.
“Katie was our perfect baby girl,” her mum says.
“She was keen to learn things earlier than other babies.
Tania and Katie had an exceptional relationship.
“I miss hearing from her every day,” Tania says.
“I love when a memory pops up on Facebook that she commented on because it takes me back to when she was still alive.
“The hardest part is knowing she is never walking through our door, never here to celebrate her children’s milestones or be part of any family gatherings.
“The hardest part is knowing she is never walking through our door, never here to celebrate her children’s milestones or be part of any family gatherings,” she says.
Her dad Boyd struggles daily.
“I was her papa bear,” Boyd says.
“I always cherished her cutting my hair, it is such a small thing.
“I can’t get my haircut without closing my eyes and thinking back to Katie doing it.”
Young Aiden has Katie’s dimples, smile, cheeky grin, expressions and demeanor.
Indie is like her mum, but at the same time she is completely the opposite.
Her family does everything they can to save women – they lobby governments, attend rallies and run Voices for Katie.
Now eight, Indie carries that sign to remind us all of the incredible woman Australia lost on March 9, 2018.
❤️KATIE HALEY MATTERS!❤️
❤️SUPPORT MY WORK❤️
Please support my work and the Memorial to Women and Children Lost to Violence and Australian Femicide Watch. You can donate or grab a RED HEART t-shirt! 100% of money raised funds the Memorial and Australian Femicide Watch.
❤️Donate: https://australianfemicidewatch.org/support/
❤️Shop: https://australianfemicidewatch.org/shop-2/