More than 60 victims have been forced to go to court over the past decade to deny that they consented to strangulation, assaults or violence, according to the campaign to end reliance on the “rough sex” defence.
Figures for the number of such court appearances have been collected by the organisation We Can’t Consent to This, which supports amendments to the domestic abuse bill being considered by MPs on Thursday.
‘Makes no sense’: Government slammed for ending free childcare
The federal government has come under fire for scrapping free childcare before the policy’s scheduled expiry date in September.
Scrapping free childcare will push families into financial stress and cruel the economic recovery, economists have warned.
Source: ‘Makes no sense’: Government slammed for ending free childcare
‘He really wanted to burn me alive’: Rugby star against domestic violence
A horrifying video of rugby star and boxer Debbie Kaore being beaten with a hot iron has been met with global disgust, as more Australian women report domestic abuse during the coronavirus lockdown.
A new study released by Monash University has revealed an increasing number of Victorian women have been reporting domestic violence during the global health crisis.
More than half of the respondents reported that the COVID-19 pandemic had contributed to an increase in the frequency and severity of violence against women.
Nearly half of the practitioners (42 per cent) also said the pandemic had resulted in more women reporting family violence for the first time.
In many cases, perpetrators were using social distancing restrictions aimed at limiting the virus’s spread as an excuse to limit women’s movements.
Source: ‘He really wanted to burn me alive’: Rugby star against domestic violence
After Robodebt, it’s time to address ParentsNext
Our research suggests ParentsNext needs also to be addressed .
It subjects more than 75,000 low-income parents of pre-school children, 95% of whom are female, to a compulsory, complicated and discriminatory “pre-employment program”.
In December 2018, 75,259 people were in ParentsNext: 95% women, 19% Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, 21% culturally and linguistically diverse, and 12% with a disability.
ParentsNext continues largely unreformed despite the Senate committee’s recommendation that it cease in its current form.
It is consistent with a long Australian history of blaming, punishing and stigmatising welfare recipients and single mothers in particular.
The lure of the law: should catfishing be a crime?
Victims of online deception are often left heartbroken, bankrupt, destitute or even suicidal. Is it time to criminalise catfishing?
Source: The lure of the law: should catfishing be a crime? – Law Society Journal
Family Court report writer and former Big Brother psychologist, Bob Montgomery, pleads guilty to child sex abuse
A celebrity psychologist — who was used by the Family Court as an expert in custody disputes — has admitted to sexually abusing children decades ago, a revelation that law experts say opens the door for some custody rulings to be quashed.
He was charged by NSW police in January 2019.
Before that he acted in Family Court cases as a family report writer or single expert witness, a role that can include assessing the credibility of child sex abuse allegations in custody disputes.
The Montgomery scandal again throws a spotlight on the powerful role of single expert witnesses in the Family Court, which came under scrutiny in an Australian Law Reform Commission report calling for sweeping changes to the system.
How NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) facilitates financial abuse
In NSW, since December 2008, it has not been possible to register a motor vehicle in joint names. It would seem that this change in policy was made to streamline the issuing and enforcement of fines under the NSW road rules. Regrettably, the government appears not to have considered the impact this change would have on the safety of women and children affected by domestic violence in NSW – ill-thought-out bureaucratic convenience prevailed.
This is consistent with the general reluctance to prioritise women and children’s safety and wellbeing over property ownership, as manifest in the unwillingness to seek orders excluding violent men from homes to which they have legal title.
Taking and selling the car used by a female partner is just one of many strategies a male partner may use to perpetrate financial abuse and exercise control in a domestic violence situation. In order to provide the necessary protection for women in these situations and ensure two signatures are required for the sale of a jointly owned car, it is essential that the NSW government reinstate the option of registering motor vehicles in joint names, or at very least enable a second interest in a vehicle to be noted.
Source: How NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) facilitates financial abuse – Australian Lawyers Alliance
Law firms look to launch landmark strip-search class action against NSW police
“Horrific stories of police strip-searches continue to come to light, including from children as young as 10 years old who were directed to strip naked, squat and cough, lift their genitals, and have a police officer look into their body cavities, without the support of a parent or guardian present,” Samantha Lee, the police accountability lawyers from the Redfern Legal Centre alleged.
“By seeking long-overdue justice for people who have been unlawfully searched, this class action is also an important step toward achieving change to prevent more traumatic and unnecessary strip searches in NSW.”
Reports of ‘revenge porn’ skyrocketed during lockdown, we must stop blaming victims for it
Coronavirus has meant more time at home, more time online and more image-based abuse.
Perpetration rates were highest among men in their 20s and 30s, with one in three men aged 20 to 29 years disclosing they had engaged in these behaviours.
In Australia, we have specific laws across the country criminalising image-based abuse, except in Tasmania.
If you’re a victim of image-based abuse, you can document the evidence and report to police, and through the eSafety Commissioner’s online portal to request the images are removed. In over 90% of cases, the eSafety Commissioner is successful in image removal.
Source: Reports of ‘revenge porn’ skyrocketed during lockdown, we must stop blaming victims for it
Landmark child abuse reforms pass Parliament
The Evidence Amendment (Tendency and Coincidence) Act 2020 is designed to allow evidence about an accused person’s sexual interest in children, including the evidence used in prior convictions, to be considered by the jury in child sexual assault proceedings.
The new legislation, which passed State Parliament on Wednesday, 3 June was created in response to the royal commission into child sexual abuse.
Source: Landmark child abuse reforms pass Parliament – Lawyers Weekly