Patricia Easteal is currently a Senior Criminologist at the Australian Insitute of Criminology. Trained as a Legal Anthropologist in the USA, Dr Easteal was formerly a lecturer in Women’s Studies and Ethnic Studies at an American university. In Australia she has conducted major research projects on women in prison, rape, domestic violence and homicide between adult sexual intimates. She has published a number of books and articles on these and related issues. An articulate advocate for women, Dr Easteal enjoys many media and public speaking appearances. She brings to these talks and her writing both academic expertise and her personal experiences as a woman, survivor, feminist, volunteer worker with survivors of sexual assault, addiction and/or domestic violence. As a mother of four, she attributes her sanity and occasional serenity to aerobics and self-help, peer support groups.