Antoinette Lattouf never wanted to be the story.
It's a mantra she's always lived by, as do many journalists aiming not to become the headline.
But her unlawful sacking from her casual role on ABC Radio Sydney's Mornings program in 2023 set in motion a series of events - and headlines - over which she had little control.
A highly publicised court case followed, in which the public broadcaster was ultimately found to have breached employment law.
In mid-2025, the ABC was fined $150,000 and required to pay Lattouf $70,000 in damages.
The broadcaster spent more than $2 million in taxpayer funds defending the case, which revealed management had capitulated to an orchestrated campaign of complaints by pro-Israel lobbyists.
When she was offered the opportunity to write a memoir about the experience, Lattouf decided to spotlight the stories of other Australian women instead.
Those who had been told to sit down, shut up and fade into the background throughout history - and did the opposite.
They include First Nations leaders, science and sports pioneers, climate activists and women who fought for and won the first sex-discrimination class action.
Published on Tuesday, Women Who Win was written while Lattouf was in the midst of her landmark case against the ABC.
"The whole process was therapeutic because I titled the book, and I began writing, before I was technically a winner in the court's eyes," she told AAP.
"It ended up becoming a way for me to survive and to also brace for some of the unfair attacks that would come my way, whatever the outcome would be.
"Having the wisdom of other women who have won and using them as a cautionary tale, as well as a toolkit, was cathartic and strangely settling for me in that I could endure whatever was going to come."
Combined with Lattouf's reflections on the case, Women Who Win spotlights the stories of women across different classes, disability, religions, races and industries.
The stories of First Nations women who have fought for justice and accountability were particularly important to Lattouf.
"Any time that I felt that I really couldn't get out of bed or that injustice was so pervasive … I thought of First Nations women, because they don't have the luxury of giving up," she said.
"I really couldn't have gotten through the court case, which had this enormous financial, professional and personal toll ... I could not have done it without the women in this book."
Lattouf uses humour throughout, especially when reflecting on particularly traumatic parts of her court experience.
"I think (humour) is an important characteristic to share with the world because it goes against the narrative of what it means to be this big, bad, scary woman who wins," she said.
But she is deeply serious about the impact of the case on her mental health and the ABC's decision to use her experience with postpartum depression to try to discredit her on the stand.
"There were so many people who reached out ... who were appalled that mental health would be weaponised in that way and just how dangerous that is," she said.
"For our public broadcaster to try and discredit and smear me because how dare I have a pre-existing mental health condition, which at any point in a lifetime one in five Australians will.
"I'm not sure I'll ever fully recover from that time on the stand when I essentially had my mental health used to shame me."
Lattouf has since founded independent media company Ette Media with fellow journalist Jan Fran.
While she looks forward to people learning about the women spotlighted in the book, she also feels a level of trepidation at opening herself up to scrutiny again.
"There were often women in this book whose wins were only recognised and amplified when they were about to die or when they had died," she said.
"I don't think that's fair or right and I don't want that for my daughters (or) for other Australian women.
"Part of writing this book is to try and encourage women to claim their own wins in whatever shape and size it is, and to claim that space.
"I refuse to shrink."
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