Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Amendment Bill 2008
OBJECTIVES:
The object of this Bill is to amend the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 with respect to applications for and the issuing of orders under the Act.
Pauline Grace Hughes, 48, who claimed her husband bashed her, bit her, urinated over her and chose to watch a State of Origin football match on television instead of going with her to a marriage counsellor was acquitted of his murder. She had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Anthony Roscoe Hughes on the basis of self-defence.
She told police that during an argument while drinking, he pushed her to the ground, bit her on the arm and said: “I’m going to bash you stupid” before she stabbed him. As she crouched on the floor, she had thought: “You’re not going to beat me senseless again.” “He has hurt me badly in the past. I’ve had broken ribs, I’ve had heaps of black eyes and hair pulled out and … when he said that, I thought, I don’t want to go to work with make-up on black eyes trying to make up excuses.”
She told the jury that at different times her husband pushed her into a plate-glass door, urinated over her, poured coffee over her head and tipped a pot plant on her. “He put a garden slug on a spoon and forced it into my mouth and made my dentures cut my mouth.” SMH Friday April 15, 1994.
I have no time for such a brutal man, and an acquittal was justified.
The proposed legislation will improve matters by:
·Including the offence of stalking or intimidating a person as a personal violence offence;
·Requiring a provisional order to be served where practicable on the person for whose protection it was issued;
·Clarifying who may apply for an ancillary property recovery order;
·Enabling an authorised officer to make an interim apprehended domestic violence order that protects not just the person for whom the order was sought but also other persons with whom he or she has a domestic relationship;
·Clarifying that an applicant to a court for an apprehended domestic violence order in relation to himself or herself may also apply for the order to be made in relation to another person with whom the applicant has a domestic relationship;
·Enacting further savings and transitional provisions as consequential of the enactment of the Act.
·It also amends the Firearms Act 1996 and the Weapons Prohibition Act 1998 to provide that a licence or permit issued under those Acts is suspended automatically on the making of a provisional order against the licence or permit holder by an authorised office under the Act.
The Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 was passed last year to repeal and re-enact the Crimes Act 1900 which dealt with the issuing of apprehended domestic violence orders and apprehended personal violence orders, and the enforcement of those orders.
I do not like the term “domestic” violence. The use of the word “domestic” somehow makes the action seem more respectable, and people like police, doctors and clergymen have been reluctant to invade the privacy of the home. But in fact, what we have is simply violence in the home and that must be confronted.
One woman is killed every two weeks following a domestic argument that ends violently. And what is generally not recognised, is that violence in the home has a devastating affect upon the children involved. Remember that 43% of homicide victims were killed by a member of their own family and 20% were killed by friends. One in four of all homicides are spouse homicides; one in ten is a child under ten years.
Family violence occurs in a context of unequal power relationships within the family, ideas about male authority over the family, women’s unequal access to economic security, and the treatment of family violence as a private concern rather than a public issue. Violence is all but invisible to the outside world yet it touches one in five marriages in Australia.
Since the commencement of this Act in March 2008 a number of suggestions have been received by the NSW Police, the Department of Community Services, and the Legal Aid Commission to further improve the effectiveness of the Act, to ensure that domestic and personal violence victims are better protected.
The APPREHENDED VIOLENCE LEGAL ISSUES COORDINATING COMMITTEE, [an interagency group comprising non-governmental and governmental membership including the Attorney General’s Department, the Police Ministry, the Office for Women, Local Courts, the Legal Aid Commission, the Judicial Commission, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Domestic Violence Advocacy Service, and the Women’s Domestic Violence Court Assistance Scheme] have also put forward recommendations to the government to improve the legislation, policies, and procedures in relation to women and children victims of domestic violence.
This proposed legislation includes a number of the Committee’s recommendations.
Schedule 2.4 [2] amends section 4 (1) of the Firearms Act 1996 so that any licence granted under that Act will automatically be suspended for anyone who has an AVO taken out against them.
Schedule 2.5 [2] amends section 4 (1) of the Weapons Prohibition Act 1998 so that any permit granted under section 17 of that Act will automatically be suspended for anyone who has an AVO taken out against them.
These two amendments are especially important in the aftermath of an incident that leads to an AVO being sought, when the victims are at risk of further harm.
COMMENT:
The incidence of domestic violence throughout NSW remains a concern and has been the motive behind a number of government strategies designed to both prevent such violence as well as facilitate a better response to it.
Violence falls broadly into four categories of abuse:
Physical abuse includes pushing, kicking, punching, use of a weapon to inflict injury, strangulation, cigarette burns and so on. All acts and threats to assault are criminal offences.
Psychological/emotional/verbal abuse is the use of words, language and other strategies to issue orders, threaten, insult, abuse, denigrate and degrade the female partner to destroy self-esteem.
Financial abuse means controlling and withholding access to the family’s resources, including money, the car, purchase and ownership of goods and property.
Social abuse refers to the social isolation inflicted upon a female partner through conduct which causes contact with family and friends to be curtailed or to cease, including forbidding contact.
All these behaviours are executed to obtain power and control, and escalates in intensity and frequency over time.
Last month we observed White Ribbon Day, the international day focusing on the goal of elimination of violence against women. Males are the perpetrators of domestic violence against women in nearly 99% of cases, and most homicides of women are carried out by their partners. Threats of abuse and the carrying out of actual abuse is an attempt at social control and dominance.
The White Ribbon campaign helps raise awareness of the terrible level violence against women in today’s society, and to encourage individuals and communities to take action to help make the lives of all women in our community safer.
A recent study reported in the Journal of Family Violence reported that marijuana use combined with low socio-economic status was a strong predictor of partner abuse. Marijuana use also increased verbal and psychological abuse of partners. Stimulant use, sedative use and alcohol abuse were also risk factors for various forms of partner abuse in all socio-economic groups . I mention that because – with our current culture of binge drinking and the use of illegal drugs – it is lamentable but not surprising that these attacks continue.
The study concluded that community interventions that promote equality between women and men, provide economic benefits for women, inform men of their responsibilities and women of their rights, and change the fundamental societal beliefs and attitudes that permit exploitative behaviour, are advisable.
“Roslyn’s Story” is one woman’s moving account of her violent marriage. She requests people to stop saying what they usually do and learn the better response. Roslyn wants:
1. The police to stop saying: ‘Calm down and charge him in the morning if you want to.’ But to say: ‘What can we do about making you feel safe?’
2. The doctors to stop saying: ‘I’ll prescribe you a tranquilliser.’ But to say: ‘Would you like me to refer you to someone who is better qualified to help you than me?’
3. The lawyers to stop saying: ‘We haven’t enough evidence.’ But to say: ‘We’ll get a restraining order.’
4. The social workers to stop saying: ‘It happens to a lot of women.’ But to say: ‘Do you know your rights?’
5. Health clinic sisters to stop saying: ‘It’s a difficult time for a husband when you have young children.’ But to say: ‘Can I make you aware of programmes available on parenting and relationships.’
6. Family Law counsellors to stop saying: ‘He has the right to access.’ But to say: ‘Let’s set a period of no access until he begins to work out his problems.’
7. Your friends to stop saying: ‘I told you so.’ But to say: ‘I’ll give you any support I can.’
8. Clergy to stop saying: ‘Forgive him.’ But to say: ‘The situation is intolerable for you and your children. Let us help you do something about it.’
Here in Australia 57% of the women who took part in the INTERNATIONAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN SURVEY reported experiencing at least one incident of physical or sexual violence during their lives, and one in 20 women had been victims of violence during the year the survey was conducted. Those at greatest risk of becoming victims of violence are young women between 18 and 24, Aboriginal women, women with a disability, and pregnant women.
This proposed Bill will further strengthen our laws, protect victims of violence and hold the perpetrators to account. I commend the Bill to the House.