Domestic Violence And Its Impact On Australia

For the purposes of this paper, the definition of family violence provided in the Queensland Family Violence Protection Act 2012 is utilised. According to the Act, family violence is behaviour that controls or dominates a family member in any way, and causes them to feel fear for their own, or another family member’s, safety or wellbeing. It can include physical, sexual, psychological,

Out of the shadows and into the limelight, the once hidden crime of domestic violence has recently emerged within the Australian community as a widespread criminal issue. This abuse of power occurs in a relationship when one partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate and control the other. Inflicting physical harm upon another human being is undoubtedly a breach of the criminal law, yet the Australian legal system takes little measures to protect the wider community from this type of violence. According to Family Lawyer Richard Ingleby, domestic violence has often been condoned by the legal system due to the fact that assaults occur in the ‘private’ realm of the home where legal measures are regarded as inappropriate, and interventionist. However, by overlooking domestic violence as a criminal offence, does the Australian legal system fail to adequately protect the family unit from this form of violence? Recent studies from the Australian Bureau of Statics have revealed that 23% of women who have ever been married or engaged in a de facto relationship have experienced violence by a partner at some time during the relationship. Due to the secrecy that once surrounded this kind of abuse, victims often feel unable to speak out and seek help, therefore even large surveys cannot provide accurate estimates of the extend of domestic violence within the Australia community (Domestic Violence and Incest Resource Centre, 1998). Despite the high incidence rate of

What used to be a private issue has significantly reformed to be punishable by law highlighting society’s changing values. The main victims of domestic violence are usually women and children who are subjected to extreme abuse by the spouse. The Family Law Act 1975(Cth) established the Family court which attempted to address issues of domestic violence. However, the imposition of this legislation has reflected societal concerns where the law does not effectively deal with domestic violence as cases are continually unreported. Also, police are not adequately investigating the issue. For example, in the case of Swan, Wayne v D.P.P (2008) an indigenous woman was reluctant in reporting abuse until she was caught wandering the streets, heavily affected by alcohol. Due to cultural barriers, indigenous woman are compelled endure intense abuse in the household. The enactment of Crimes Amendment (Apprehended Violence) Act 1999(NSW) made it mandatory for police to investigate breaches of apprehended domestic violence orders (ADVOs) and arrest perpetrators if necessary. Greater use of ADVOs and investigation has reduced the amount of verbal abuse, physical violence and harassments. However, the case of Jean Majdalawi (1996) forced legislations to take further actions as the victim was shot in the head by her husband outside Parramatta Family Court even though an ADVO had been filed against him. Consequently, the event

Domestic Violence is a major issue in Australia right now and many believe that there are not enough resources to help domestic violence victims. 25% of women report being affected by domestic violence in their lifetimes and yet there is still not much being done. One of the main reasons women stays in the home where they are experiencing domestic abuse is because they do not feel safe leaving their home. Domestic violence victims are being turned away from refuges and being sent to motels and caravan parks, the refuges instead take in homeless people.

Domestic violence is a growing concern in Australia. Police handled more than 3,000 domestic violence matters in just one suburb of Brisbane in the past 12 months and for the whole of Queensland, handled another 25,000 matters.

Domestic violence is a personal violence committed against someone whom the offender has, or has had, a ‘domestic relationship with’. This includes physical violence, sexual assault, economic abuse and threatening behaviours that coerces, controls or causes the victim to be ‘fearful’8. Domestic violence is an incredibly devastating and widespread issue with one9 woman dying at the hands of a domestic partner each week. The legal responses that approach the issue of domestic violence includes the Crimes (Domestic Violence and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW) which allows the court and the police to grant applications for apprehended domestic violence orders (ADVOs). This results in fairness, accessibility and to some degree, enforceability as an ADVO does not appear on a criminal record unless breached. However, domestic violence, an issue subtended by state and federal governments, is complex due to the concept of co-operative federalism. The detrimental effects of the federal and state governments lack of co-operation is evidenced in the Luke Batty as a father whose arrest warrant had not been processed was allowed to visit his son and as a result, murder him. “The police did the relevant background check but found no record of outstanding warrants in the police database. They were not yet in the system”10, this highlights the lack of timeliness and resource efficiency as

Domestic violence has become an increasingly dominant problem within Australian society but is constantly pushed to the side like a burden. Domestic violence is a relationship between intimate partners in which one individual seeks to assert power and control over the other and cause fear or intimidation and doesn’t have to be physical abuse, it can be emotional, psychological, financial, sexual or other types of abuse. It can affect anyone in the community regardless of gender, sexual identity, race, age, culture, ethnicity, religion, disability, economic status or location ("home - Domestic Violence", 2016). Violence isn’t just physical violence it can also be sexual, verbal, psychological, emotional, spiritual, economic or social. Domestic violence is the most frequent form of assault in Australian society nevertheless, it remains a hidden problem because it occurs within the privacy of the home and those involved are usually reluctant to speak out. Women and Children are commonly affected by domestic violence in fact, 33.3% of women had experienced physical violence since the age of 15 (Domestic Violence Statistics, 2016). Although, studies show that men are not the only perpetrators, in fact more than 10,000 men alone have been affected by domestic violence in NSW ("10,000 men are domestic violence victims", 2016).

In 2015, an Australian woman was killed in result of domestic violence by their husband, boyfriend or partner. Domestic violence can impact the victim’s health according to (Kristen 2003), abuse by husbands, boyfriends or partners can be linked to physical health to woman even though their not in an abusive relationship with their partner, it still impacts their health such as; getting anxiety, depression, mental illness. The majority of common injuries to women is by their current or former partner which is domestic violence the injuries that accrue from cuts, bruises and scars (Guth & Pachter 2000). Women have experienced three types of different injuries by their partners

Domestic violence is a negative and deleterious problem that affects people from all socioeconomic, religious, and cultural backgrounds.

To put it in perspective, 1 in 5 Australian women had experienced sexual violence and 1 in 6 Australian women had experienced physical or sexual violence from a current or former partner. In comparison, 1 in 22 Australian men had experienced sexual violence and 1 in 19 Australian men had experienced physical or sexual violence from a current or former partner. The difference in these statistics clearly show that domestic violence does not occur to men and women at equal rates. Campaigns such as White Ribbon are working tremendously hard to bring awareness to the most common violent issue to benefit society as a

Domestic Violence in Australia is an increasing statistic; research from ANROWS violence against women shows that 89 women have been killed by their current or former partner between 2008 – 2010, this is nearly one every week. This statistic is quite frightening and just shows how prevalent domestic violence is in Australia.

This article was a story of domestic violence which is widespread across all cultures, ages and socioeconomic groups in Australia. It revealed that both men and women in Australia experience substantial levels of violence, but the rate of physical and sexual

Family violence is broadly defined across health literature as experiencing direct or indirect exposure to maltreatment and violence in the family unit (Lee, Walters, Hall, & Basile, 2013, p. 85). Family violence is a widespread, often silent, issue in both developed and developing countries. Health promotion campaigns such as ¬¬‘One in Three’, ‘Violence Against Women – Australia Says No’ and ‘White ribbon day’ in Australia raise awareness and employ strategies to address the issues related to violence in the home. Many of the techniques and principles employed in these campaigns are significant attributes for a multi-tiered campaign to address each demographic of men, women and children against violence. Moreover, substance abuse and socioeconomic status are key risk factors for family violence, and these factors are associated with personal and relationship issues, expressing the need for campaigns to target help at individual and family levels (Kassis, Artz, Scambor, Scambor, & Moldenhauer, 2013, p. 182). Here, the aim is to provide a health promotion campaign that addresses each level of family violence and provide care, information and empowerment for those impacted by violence in the home.

This report will offer a review of Domestic Violence in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The ways in which this abuse occurs will be included as well as theoretical frameworks to aid in understanding the extent of this social problem. A review was issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2013. In this review it was found that violence against women affected more than one third of women worldwide. Information was gathered internationally and due to the findings, it was concluded that this was “a global public health problem of epidemic proportions, requiring urgent action” (WHO, 2013,p3).

The current laws in Australia are not enough to prevent domestic violence against women which is killing our society