Family violence victim follows in her hero’s footsteps

When Senior Constable Adam Glogolia helped a young Turkish woman escape family violence eight years ago, he never would have guessed his care and kindness would inspire her to become a police officer.

But that is exactly what happened and an emotional reunion between Adam and the now Constable Asli Uysal earlier this year meant there was not a dry eye left in the entire Mernda Police Station.

Asli had only been living in Australia with her Turkish-Australian husband and their baby son for less than a year when, in April 2018, she made the brave decision to flee the abuse her husband had subjected her to.

Victims of family violence often find it to be an agonising and scary decision to leave the relationship, even in the best of times.

But for Asli, leaving meant that she and her baby son would be truly isolated.

“It was so hard to make that decision, but I knew I had to walk out for myself and my son,” Asli said.

“I was so scared because I couldn’t speak any English, I had no money, no family members to help me and I couldn’t go back home to Türkiye because my son was only 10 months old and didn’t have a passport.

“I also had my husband’s mum’s friends telling me not to report it to the police because they would just come to my home and do nothing, and they said the women in the women’s refuges were all drug users and that my son and I would perish in there.”

Despite the monumental odds being against her, Asli went to her local police station in the suburb of Mernda in Melbourne’s outer north.

“I walked in with my son in a pram, and I saw the police officer walk out and the only thing I could say to him in English was something I had translated before I went in.

“All I said to him was, ‘Husband, bad’.”

With family violence incidents sadly making up a large part of general duties policing, Adam needed nothing more than Asli’s two-word sentence of broken English to know he had to spring into action.

He ushered Asli, her son and their meagre belongings into a room at the police station, told them he would keep them safe and set about tracking down a Turkish interpreter.

At first, Adam was able to talk with Asli via an interpreter who had joined them by phone, but he wanted to support her as much as possible and organised an interpreter to come to the station.

“It’s always a very hard thing for a family violence victim to come to the police,” Adam said.

“And for a female, when you get a male police officer helping you, sometimes it's difficult for them.

“But I've been in the job for 13 years now and I've obviously dealt with a lot of things, and I know that when you show someone empathy and just listen to them, it can be exactly what they need.

“Family violence is unfortunately a big part of our job, and so Asli was one of many for me, but for them, it's their worst day so you've got to give them the time and listen.”

The effort that Adam went to affirmed for Asli that she had made the right decision.

“When Adam solved my biggest problem, that I couldn’t speak English, I started to feel more comfortable and safe,” Asli said.

“He was very calm, friendly, asking the right questions, he was validating because he was telling me that what I had been through wasn’t right and he was just explaining what the steps were and what the police could do to help me.

“I think he was with me there for more than five hours so I can imagine he probably missed time with his family to help me.”

Adam organised emergency accommodation for Asli and her son and connected her with family violence support organisations.

Adam also charged her husband with unlawful assault and he was later convicted and fined at the Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court.

A new life

For the first time in her life in Australia, Asli felt free and safe.

It was all thanks to her bravery being supported by Adam’s empathy and actions.

“I was proud of myself and I was so thankful to him that he helped us and that me and my son were safe because of him,” Asli said.

“Any police officer would do the same but he was very special for me because he helped drag me out of that situation.”

Asli and her son were then able to start a new life.

Through help from the support organisations, Asli spent her first week in a hotel in St Kilda and then was given longer-term accommodation in Yarraville, Frankston and then Ascot Vale.

“As soon as I learned a little bit of English, I'm like, ‘Now it's time for me to contribute back to the system’, because I wanted to work, earn money and not stay on Centrelink,” she said.

Asli’s 76-year-old grandmother came over to Australia from Türkiye to help look after her son and allow Asli to study aged care.

She eventually started working in aged care but had a greater plan.

“When I thought my English is super good, I was seeing those advertisements about joining the police,” she said.

“And I knew already from the beginning, when everything went super well after Adam helped me, that I was going to be a police officer and help people like me.”

Asli achieved her dream and graduated from the Victoria Police Academy in March 2025, with her proud son watching on.

She has since gone on to become a valuable general duties member at Fawkner Police Station, where she has been especially helpful for the large Turkish communities in the surrounding suburbs.

The surprise reunion

Along with becoming the best police officer she can be, Asli’s other big aim was to go back and thank the man who helped change her life.

“After working as a police officer, I realised that we need to hear stories like mine to encourage us in our job, so that’s what I wanted to do for Adam,” she said.

She twice dropped into Mernda Police Station after finishing her shift, only to find Adam wasn’t working.

Determined to let him know the incredible impact he had on her, Asli surprised him on her third attempt.

“I bought some donuts for the station because I wanted his friends to know what he had done for me and I bought chocolate for him to take home because I wanted his family to know,” she said.

Word quickly spread through the station about what was happening and a crowd of Adam’s proud workmates quietly gathered.

“I said to him, ‘Hello, do you remember me? I was here with my 10-month-old child and you helped us, and now I am your colleague,” Asli said.

“I was speechless,” Adam said.

“I'm not ashamed to say that I'm an emotional person and I definitely got teary when she came in and thanked me.”

Adam is well-known by his station colleagues for the way he helps family violence victims, so it was also an emotional moment for many of them.

“She told me how she learned English and applied to the police because of the support and the actions from police and myself,” Adam said.

“It was very humbling to hear that.

“You don’t do this job for the recognition, you just do it to help people, and then there are times like this where you’re changing and saving people’s lives and you don’t even know it.

“I'm absolutely amazed by what she has achieved and I’m so happy that she's joined and she's doing the same for other people.”

And helping family violence victims is precisely what Asli excels at.

She aims later in her career to work in areas specialising in family violence, using the story of her life to help the lives of others.

“Sometimes I do tell them, ‘I was just there where you are, and you see me now, I'm here,” Asli said.

“And then they're like, ‘Oh my God, how did you do that?’.

“But I say to them, ‘You can do it too. You can one day become like me, someone in a strong position. I'm happy to help you, I will do what you need, let's go from there’.”