Why do Aboriginal women in Australia experience such high levels of violence in their own communities? In this considered and carefully researched book, Joan Kimm discusses the extent and nature of the violence, its underlying causes, current policies that deal with it, and changes that might improve these policies. Kimm shows how this multi-faceted environment, particularly theinteraction of two patriarchal laws, has had, and continues to have,very real destructive effects on Aboriginal women. Kimm argues powerfully that Aboriginal women, like all women, like allhumans, have the universal right to lives free of violence. Shecontends that current law, policy and practice place too much emphasison their rights as Indigenous people and too little on their rights aswomen. A shift in emphasis will be an important first step to saferlives. Her work covers: the devastating legacy of European colonialism on Indigenous culture, modern anthropological evidence about patriarchy and violence in traditional Aboriginal societies, beliefs held by Aboriginals, particularly men, about their cultural heritage, the impact of cultural heritage upon modern Indigenous society, and changing judicial attitudes to sentencing Aboriginal men for violence to Aboriginal women, shifting from emphasis on the mens cultural background to emphasis on the womens rights as victims.