He is just 16, but Amaru (not his real name) is already more of a man than any of those he knew in his early years.
"My uncles, cousins, people who were invited into my home by my parents, they all used their fists, I was there so I got it, sometimes for not saying what was on my mind, being too quiet, but also for speaking out, for saying what I wanted or was thinking, that got me hit too. So I learned, you know, just stay quiet, don't speak and take it straight on, don't react."
Until he was 10, Amaru lived with his mum. "She wasn't what I would call the nicest person at the time. She was into drugs, alcohol, that sort of stuff. She used to smash me a bit."
Living with violence both from his mum, and from the people she hung out with, Amaru doesn't have many happy memories of his childhood. "I didn't grow up playing with toys, or pretending to be Superman, it was just about staying away from the fists, staying out of sight when they were drinking."
At times, the choices his mum made saw them living rough, and they moved town often to get away from debt or people.