Domestic Violence In Australia

For centuries domestic violence has been perceived as a private matter private of which the government has not been concerned about nor was it considered the government’s business to intervene on behalf of a battered spouse. The unlawful nature of this failure for state or federal government intervention against this crime contributed to the systematic abuse of women in the family. The traditions, customs, and common law found in both British and American societies continued right up until the last decade of the 20th century and left the battered wives and very frequently, her children, at the mercy of the husband. It wasn’t until the 1990’s when the government began to do something to protect mothers, wives, and lovers from intimate

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

Every action is followed by a reaction; however, occasionally the reaction is only a temporary solution that leads to long-term consequences. This is especially true of how domestic violence is currently governed by the criminal justice system and social norms. A lack of preventative care exists and this ignores the consequences of domestic violence in our society. Incidents of domestic violence are often treated as one-time or isolated occurrences; however, in many cases abusers and victims fall back into these learnt behaviors. Therefore, domestic violence is a never-ending cycle that cannot be stopped without cultural and legal changes that focus on preventing further instances of violence and empowering victims to break the cycle.

With just the slight tweaking of just a few laws, the protection of domestic violence victims could be greatly improved and make many of them feel a lot safer when going to sleep at night. It would be a wise decision if the government implemented these changes in order to protect the victims of domestic violence, it would solve a lot of existing problems and make sure that the domestic violence victims are feeling safe

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.

Article 1 focused on two key questions; ‘does the decision to imprison differ between domestic and non-domestic violence cases when perpetrators are sentenced under similar circumstances’ and ‘whether domestic violence perpetrators receive prison terms similar to non-domestic violence offenders’(Bond & Jefferies 2014, p856). The research relied on adult lower court data. The results from a sample of 64,238 cases found that domestic violence cases differ significantly from non-domestic violence cases, on most characteristics. Offenders in domestic violence cases are on average older, more likely to be indigenous and less likely to be female. Judicial use of incarceration is slightly (but statistically significant) higher in domestic violence cases compared with non-domestic violence cases, of

This essay will critically analyse the significant changes that have occurred within domestic violence which is viewed as a vital subject within the criminal justice system. It will explore the way that domestic violence has progressively become a concerning issue in the criminal justice system from being relatively acceptable in recent history. In addition to this, the essay will explore legislation changes in relation to domestic violence and how the police have arguably been forced to change their attitudes towards a problem that was once thought of as a private regard. It will critically analyse the theories put forward as to why domestic violence occurs in today’s society. It will explore the weaknesses within the criminal justice system, especially the police in regards to domestic violence, the police previously viewed domestic violence as a matter of which they should not get involved. However as mentioned in the essay, after many reviews within the system, many improvements have been made to help protect the victim.

Domestic violence is an issue that is impacting the indigenous Australian population (Korff, J. 2015).This should be concerning to Australians so that they may help reduce fatal deaths by domestic violence (Korff, J. 2015).

The laws have to fair for everyone but easier for the victims of domestic violence to get justice for the crime of domestic violence. What is meant by this is that make easier for the victim to prove that domestic violence has happened and then the judge has to decide on the evidence that is shown and by the precedent of other domestic violence cases to get a restraining order or some kind of justice for the victim. This is also very import that it is easy to access courts or someway of reporting and receiving justice. This means more people will report the crime and will help get help and try and lessen the amount of domestic violence. The legal system issues for domestic violence are evident in the legal

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

Thousands of women and children in Australia lives are shattered from family and domestic violence, it causes physical and psychological damages. The failure to articulate its long-term effects, has social and economic consequences. The Australian Human Rights Commission have conducted human rights laws to free and protected anyone from a history of family and domestic violence, So nobody inducers physical, emotional and sexual abuse again.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics half of the female victims of domestic violence experience more than one incident of abuse (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013). In Queensland using spousal abuse as a defence to murder can be problematic for female defendants who kill their abusers. Jurors in most cases relating to spousal abuse tend to find the act of pre-emptive killing in self-defence not justifiable. Queensland’s Criminal Code should be amended to allow the ‘Abusive Domestic Relationship Defence’ to be used as a full defence. This can be proven as victims of violence tend to lack the ability to make logical decisions; individuals feel a case of entrapment and the victim signals violence and acts before the onset of abuse.

Domestic violence can be a serious of behaviours towards a person either a partner or child, a few of these behaviours can include Physical, Sexual, Emotional, Psychological, Threatening and being controlling which causes fear of safety and wellbeing of the person affected. At least 23% of women in Australia have experienced domestic or family violence and the latest Australian Bureau of statistics figures point out, these accounts for around 2.2 million women. (Australia & Statistics, 2013) The abusive behaviour is a pattern through which a person seeks to control and dominate on another person. According to ABC NEWS “In Queensland alone there are 180 cases of family violence reported daily” (‘Quentin Bryce fears domestic violence getting worse’, 2015) ‘36 percent of children’ get exposed to domestic violence,by hearing or even seeing the harm on the family, the mother, father, brother or sister or even experiences the effects themselves.(

Domestic violence used to be considered a private family matter and was not considered a societal problem until feminists in the 70's started pushing the matter. Beginning in the 1970’s, social policy toward female victims of domestic assaults focused on improving legal response and