Gini Shepheard said her mother was killed by a drink-driver and she was "physically and mentally" abused by her father after her mother's death.
By 16, Mrs Shepheard was a street kid, who survived by begging and living in a Wellington railway station.
She later became involved with the Nomads gang for 10 years through her then-partner.
"I'm a shy person, but I wanted the story out, so people would know what it was like for us.
"There's no way I want my grandchildren growing up in that life."
Mrs Shepheard is now a church social worker in Whangarei who mentors children from gang backgrounds.
"I look back on that time 30 years ago now and it's like it was another person."
Author Pip Desmond wrote a book about the women's experiences, Trust: A True Story of Women and Gangs, which won the non-fiction prize at the 2010 NZ Post Book Awards.
The women were all members of the Aroha Trust, which was a work co-operative set up for young Maori women in Wellington in the late 1970s.
"There were about 30 of them and they didn't have patch protection like the men did, so you had Nomads, Black Power, Highway 61 and Mongrel Mob all together, which made things interesting," Mrs Shepheard said.
"We eventually became quite a formidable force.
"We achieved far more than we ever believed possible.
"Being put on the block, or gang raped, was very common in the 1970s.
"So we went to a Black Power meeting once and said to the boys `Enough is enough'.
"We didn't get a great reception. But gang rape was banned by Black Power not long after that," Mrs Shepheard said.
Desmond said the book was inspired by the courage the women had shown in escaping gang culture.
"I wanted to know how the women survived.
"That was the catalyst for me to go back and collect their stories.
"It was a way to make sure the pain and shame they experienced as young people 30 years ago will help young people to heal today.
"Today, they are social workers, community workers, nurses, mothers and grandmothers.
"They're proud women and that's why they're using their own names.
"The street kid of today is the community worker of tomorrow.
"That's why we should never give up on anyone."
The presentation was part of the New Zealand Council of Social Services 2010 conference at St Margaret's College yesterday.
