Anne Summers: A lot of men resent the fact that women have rights and have entitlements and have freedoms'

"Anne Summers is scrutinising street numbers as we walk. Pausing in front of a 19th-century mansion, the author and journalist looks up to its second storey. This is where I was arrested. Oh wow, she says, taking in its immaculate sandstone facade. It didn't look like this then. We're in an area real estate agents now call Potts Point, but in 1974, it was the Cross."

"While Victoria Street's buildings were ultimately preserved for their heritage value, the low-cost housing they provided was not. As we catch a glimpse of the blocky, beige Chimes building on our way to Embarkation Park the building is on the cards to be turned into luxury apartments - Summers mutters: It's such a shame. One year after her arrest, Summers released Damned Whores and God's Police, an interrogation of Australian history and culture that placed women at its centre."

Anne Summers moved from Adelaide to Sydney in her 20s and lived in a notorious neighbourhood then known as the Cross. She became involved with the Sydney Push and the Victoria Street Residents Action Group, which led her to squat in a decrepit mansion to protect buildings. Police and hired thugs forced entry, dragged her out and arrested her. Victoria Street's buildings gained heritage protection, but low-cost housing was lost and plans for luxury redevelopment continue. A year after her arrest Summers published Damned Whores and God's Police, which sold over 100,000 copies and helped establish women's history as a field. Summers holds an Order of Australia and is a professor.

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