Western Australia refuses to change the laws where people who have no criminal convictions are imprisoned if they do not have the capacity to pay a fine. People are languishing in prison for not being able to pay their fines. Single Aboriginal mothers make up the majority of those in prison who do not have the capacity to pay fines. They are living in absolute poverty and cannot afford food and shelter for their children let alone pay a fine. They will never have the financial capacity to pay a fine. So we want to raise $99,000.00 to have at least 100 single Aboriginal mothers freed from prison and have warrants vacated.
Category: Domestic Violence
Why are our prisons full of domestic violence victims?
The number of women in prison is continuing to soar, new data shows. But advocates warn we can’t arrest the increase until we start properly addressing domestic abuse, which affects an overwhelming majority of women behind bars.
One emerging but “alarming” phenomenon leading to women’s criminalisation, lawyers and advocates say, is the growing number of domestic violence victims being misidentified by police as primary aggressors — and named as respondents on family violence intervention orders.
Disturbingly, she said, a growing number of perpetrators are attempting to “game the system” and will, for instance, apply for intervention orders during family law proceedings out of spite or to gain an advantage.
One emerging but “alarming” phenomenon leading to women’s criminalisation, lawyers and advocates say, is the growing number of domestic violence victims being misidentified by police as primary aggressors — and named as respondents on family violence intervention orders.
Disturbingly, she said, a growing number of perpetrators are attempting to “game the system” and will, for instance, apply for intervention orders during family law proceedings out of spite or to gain an advantage.
“What we’re hearing … is the really sophisticated and creative ways in which abusive men are manipulating the [family violence] system … research we’ve conducted recently suggests that abusers are feeling like there is a system that’s persecuting them, that they will then use to persecute their victim.”
The costs are borne by entire families: Imprisoning mothers can have devastating consequences for their children and perpetuate intergenerational offending and cycles of incarceration. This disproportionately impacts Indigenous women in prison, of whom some 80 per cent are mothers.
“We hear frequently that women who sought police intervention to keep them safe were instead arrested, so of course that’s going to deter them from seeking help and makes them even more vulnerable [to abuse].”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-20/womens-prisons-full-of-domestic-violence-victims/10599232
[category Aust, domestic violence]
‘Rough Sex’ Doesn’t Kill, Domestic Violence Does
There has been public outcry following the short sentence handed to a man convicted of killing his girlfriend after what he called ‘rough sex’.
Natalie Connolly, 26, a mother of one, died in December 2016, of acute alcohol intoxication and blunt force injuries. John Broadhurst, 40, admitted to inflicting those injuries, but said they were meted out as part of what reports have called ‘rough sex’, and compared to scenes of 50 Shades of Grey.
Broadhurst hasn’t been found guilty of murder, or of GBH, but of manslaughter. Yes, Broadhurst beat her, but apparently only ‘within the bounds of her masochistic desires’. Yes, he inflicted a blow-out fracture to her left eye, and internal injuries via a bottle of carpet cleaner, but he was cleared, because this was all part of, we’re told to believe, consensual sex.
Labour MP Harriet Harman has now referred the case to the Attorney General, asking him to consider if this counts as an unduly lenient sentence. She tweeted:
‘He blames her for her own death, says she wanted is violence. She can’t give evidence as she’s dead. Men used to evade murder charge with “nagging & shagging” defense. The 21st century version is the “50 shades of grey” defense. Cannot be allowed to stand.’
https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/real-life/domestic-violence-natalie-connolly-john-broadhurst-sentence-harriet-harman-attorney-general/
[category global, domestic violence, sexual violence]
Queensland policeman stood down from duty over charge for leaking DV complainant’s address
Key points:
- Senior Constable Neil Punchard has been stood down pending his court appearance next month
- He allegedly leaked a woman’s address to her former partner, who was subject to a DV order
- It was revealed this year Queensland police had revived an investigation into the matter
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-17/brisbane-cop-stood-down-charged-for-leaking-womans-address-dv/10628106
[category Aust, domestic violence]
Women’s safety advocates call for stronger family violence protections
About 70 to 80 per cent of people observed intervention orders made against them and about 10 per cent “push the boundaries”, keeping their ex-partner “in constant fear” without doing anything overt enough to attract a breach.
Ten per cent have the attitude “no piece of paper’s going to tell me what to do with my property (the ex partner and children)”.
Jackie Watt, CEO of No to Violence, said while it was important to wait for the findings of inquests into the deaths of Olga Edwards and her children, the fact Ms Edwards was unaware John Edwards, though legally barred from seeing the children, was reportedly able to live close to them without the knowledge of Ms Edwards was “awful”.
“I believe she didn’t know he was there; if the Famliy Court think he’s so dangerous he should not have contact with his children, what other protections should have been put in place to make sure she and the kids are safe? He was an abuser of some duration.”
“A big question is about how he was able to access firearms,” said Ms Watt. “Why was there not a red flag, a burning flag.”
Ms Watt questioned why, given courts “do not lightly stop parents from seeing kids, they tend to err on the side of giving them access”, there were not adequate measures in place to protect the family. “Who was meant to share that (risk) with who, to keep them safe: that has to be the biggest question.”
“Often there are child protection people saying saying ‘you must separate, and keep these children safe because this man’s too dangerous’, and when they do separate the first thing that gets arranged is unsupervised child contact.”
She said women are seen as failing to protect children if they remain with a violent partner, and “alienating” if they attempt to cease contact. “That is a conundrum that hasn’t been sorted out.”
[category Aust, domestic violence]
Pharmacist jailed for murdering wife to start new life with boyfriend
A pharmacist who murdered his wife in a premeditated attack so he could start a new life with his boyfriend in Australia has been jailed for a minimum of 30 years.
Mitesh Patel, 37, strangled his wife, Jessica, with a plastic bag after spending five years planning her murder so he could use her frozen embryos to have a family with his lover in Sydney.
Source: Pharmacist jailed for murdering wife to start new life with boyfriend | UK news | The Guardian
‘It’s a man’s problem’: Patrick Stewart and the men fighting to end domestic violence | Society | The Guardian
Stewart, David Challen and the Hart brothers know the devastation abuse can wreak – and are challenging the idea that it is a women’s issue.
“To tackle domestic abuse, you need to look at masculinity,” says Luke. “Our father’s need for control came from his beliefs on what it means to be a man. I think most men – like me, before this happened – don’t realise how dangerous it is.”
Another campaigning voice in this wilderness is David Challen, the son of Sally Challen, who killed her controlling husband in Surrey in 2010 and is serving a life sentence for murder.
“We need men to speak out,” he says. “We need men to say to other men when they cross a line, when they say or do something unacceptable: ‘That’s not OK.’
“There are all these influential men in politics, education, business, religions, sports, and men in mentoring roles – fathers, uncles, coaches. But, for whatever reason, they stay silent,” says Katz. “To think to yourself: ‘I don’t beat women, so it’s not my issue,’ is just not enough. We need to raise the bar a little higher.”
‘Most dangerous place’ for women is inside their own home, UN study says
More than half of female murder victims last year globally, were killed by their partners or family members a new United Nations study has reported.
“The fact that women continue to be affected by this type of violence to a greater degree than men is indicative of an imbalance in power relations between women and men inside the domestic sphere,” said UNODC executive director Yury Fedotov.
Source: ‘Most dangerous place’ for women is inside their own home, UN study says
Queensland police constable told to give evidence in domestic violence privacy case
The Queensland police officer who leaked a domestic violence victim’s details has been ordered to give evidence in her breach of privacy case.
Julie* was forced to go into hiding after a senior constable, Neil Punchard, accessed her address from the police QPRIME database and sent it to her former husband, who has been convicted of domestic violence.
Punchard was disciplined by the police but not suspended, sacked or charged. Last week police tried to prevent him from being called as a witness. The tribunal has ordered that he must attend.
‘Most dangerous place’ for women is inside their own home, UN study says
More than half of female murder victims last year globally, were killed by their partners or family members a new United Nations study has reported.
Source: ‘Most dangerous place’ for women is inside their own home, UN study says