“When children are safe, they are free to grow.” – Anonymous
THE INSPIRATION BEHIND SPEAK NOW - Hannah's story
A Medical Disaster
In mid-May 2021, Hannah underwent routine gallbladder removal surgery. Just five days after being discharged, she returned to the emergency department with severe abdominal pain. Doctors suspected a bile leak—a life-threatening complication—but chose not to do a CT scan due to concerns about radiation. After 11 hours, she was sent home.
The following morning, her condition deteriorated, necessitating emergency surgery for a bile duct injury that had caused bile to leak throughout her abdomen. This rare injury resulted in an additional three weeks in hospital. Despite experiencing intense chest pain during her second hospital stay, her concerns were again dismissed by doctors.
The Fight for Survival & Safety
Four days after being discharged, she was diagnosed with a 6"x6" intra-abdominal abscess due to the bile leak, leading to severe sepsis and subsequent septic shock. This required another emergency surgery, leaving her with only a 40% chance of survival. During this crisis, her partner became increasingly abusive, restricting her personal care and coercing her into signing a partnership visa under threats to her life.
Tragically, the hospital failed to recognise the family violence she was experiencing, neglecting standard patient protection procedures and highlighting a significant oversight in her care.
A Struggle for Support
At the same time and due to a lack of safe family support, she continued to struggle to secure care for her child, who had been moved between six different homes during this tumultuous period. Her severe depression, her child’s distress, and her lack of a suitable caregiver are evidenced not only in medical notes but also in handwritten notes from her child, like “Mummy, please come back to me” and “Mummy, please hug me,”.
Unable to endure her suffering any longer, Hannah insisted on being discharged, even though she still required highly complex medical support.
The Sacrifice of a Mother's Love Amidst Adversity
After nearly two excruciating months, Hannah returned home with a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) in her heart and left arm for antibiotics, along with a drainage bag for septic bile fluid, prioritising her child's needs over her own health.
A month later, Hannah realised she was still too unwell to care for her child, so she was left with no other option than to ask her child’s father—who had been mostly absent since her birth in 2010—to step up. They had separated when their child was young due to his drug addiction and violent behavior. Although he claimed to have changed, he refused to care for their child unless he could have her permanently.
Escalating Violence and the Fight for Custody
One week later, in August 2021, Auckland entered a level 4 COVID-19 lockdown, during which Hannah’s partner’s violence escalated and her mental health deteriorated. After the lockdown lifted in November, she moved out with her child, and he was charged and arrested. Seeking relief due to her ongoing health issues, Hannah asked her child's father again to care for her temporarily. He agreed to have her for two weeks but then refused to return her, 6 months after Hannah's initial pleas for help.
Hannah had custody of their child by default, without a legal order. In January 2022, her child's father filed to officially relocate their child to Wellington and cut off Hannah’s contact. Overwhelmed, Hannah attempted to take her own life. After enduring unimaginable trauma, she regretted her actions but found a path to forgiveness for herself—no one can truly understand such depths of despair without experiencing it firsthand.
A Three-Year Battle for Custody and Safety
This led to a grueling three-year childcare dispute in the Family Court, during which Hannah was alienated from her child for another 12 months. She became homeless, spending five months in emergency housing with Kāinga Ora while fighting for her child in court and continuing her recovery. In September 2022, Hannah moved to Wellington, hoping for a fresh start and to be closer to her child.
When Hannah finally saw her child again, her child's father threatened her life, assaulted her, and even crashed his van into her car. After 12 years of little contact, her illness had drawn her back into his life, and Hannah realised he had likely resumed using methamphetamine.
Confronting a System that Failed to Protect
The police responded by shifting the blame onto Hannah, failing to investigate despite clear evidence, including video footage and independent witness statements. They also failed to take into consideration his prior convictions for assaulting her when their child was young. One officer told her, “It’s your fault; knowing he might be on meth, why did you go?” This response dismissed Hannah’s genuine fears and downplayed the very real danger she faced. She found herself not only fighting for her safety but also having to defend her credibility as a mother.
Hannah understood why they viewed her as a troublemaker; her history with violent men likely painted her as someone prone to drama. It was painful to recognise that mothers without custody are often treated differently, and she couldn’t shake the feeling of isolation. She thought that if the police wouldn’t protect her, she would be more alone than she ever realised.
The next day, Hannah applied for an emergency protection order, but it was declined. The police had labelled her as the “instigator” of the conflict, leaving her utterly devastated, terrified, and confused about how dangerous the situation had become.
The Fight Against False Accusations and Systemic Injustice
Two days later, Hannah was falsely charged and arrested for a crime she didn’t commit, based on fabricated evidence from an estranged family member who had aligned themselves with her child’s father during their childcare proceedings. After hiring a criminal lawyer, the charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence, leaving Hannah feeling profoundly powerless and frustrated by the police response. Just one month later, her child’s father was arrested and charged with committing another act of family violence against another individual, confirming his relapse into methamphetamine use.
OPINION: It was unjust that Hannah's pleas for help were dismissed while authorities validated someone else’s experience, highlighting systemic failures in law enforcement and the issue of victim-blaming.
A Long-Awaited Victory
Finally, in August 2024, after 1,063 days in Family Court, Hannah gained sole custody of her child. She then discovered there had been 11 reports of family violence made to her child’s father's address while their child was in his care, and that two women had previously filed protection orders against him. Having never been in trouble with the police before, it was particularly painful for Hannah to be seen as the aggressor.
In total, Hannah was sick for 11 months and had 6 life-saving surgeries and procedures. In May 2024, Hannah proudly graduated with a Diploma in Creative Marketing from Yoobee Design College. Shortly after, she invented her own beauty tool, secured patent-pending status, and launched a new cosmetics brand, QuickBow.
Now, she has transformed her company, previously known as QuickBow, into the Speak Now charity. Through this inspiring new venture, Hannah aims to uplift and motivate others, encouraging them to hold onto hope despite life's challenges.
The Impact of a Troubled Past: A Call for Systemic Reform
Hannah was raised in an environment marked by sexual and physical violence, creating vulnerabilities she didn’t fully understand. After enduring an abusive relationship with her child’s father when their child was young, she thought she could recognise the signs of danger. However, Hannah never anticipated the severity of the trauma she would face when she became seriously unwell in 2021. Lacking safe family support, she found herself enduring a series of events that highlighted how such backgrounds can lead to prolonged suffering and exploitation, along with the compounded challenge of navigating a broken system on her own.
This narrative underscores the urgent need for systemic reforms and reliable support systems for those trapped in such destructive cycles.