Page 1360 - Week 05 - Thursday, 26 April 1990
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has always been wrong, it has long been illegal, but the powers of arrest and punishment under the law have not always been adequately applied.
Community attitudes to domestic violence and enforcement of the law seem to stem from the low social status of women in our society and the fact that men still regard women in many senses as their property. For some reason, our community sees violence in the home as different from violence elsewhere.
Recognition of the fact that women are not adequately protected against violence in the home has led all Australian States except Queensland to introduce domestic violence legislation. The usual features of this legislation include definitions of the range of offences which constitute domestic violence. The legislation provides for a protection order from a court where there is actual violence or a reasonable fear of violence. The protection order can be extended to others in the same household, particularly children.
The legislation usually encourages the laying of charges by police rather than placing the full responsibility for informing onto the victim. Police are given clear powers of entry to a dwelling where a domestic violence offence is suspected, and a breach of a protection order is a criminal offence for which arrest can be automatic.
The ACT Domestic Violence Act of 1986 contains all these features and it is a fact that about 40 protection orders are granted every month. The victims of domestic violence need assistance and understanding from the community and they have a particular need for certain types of services. I am very pleased to say that, since the introduction of the Domestic Violence Act, the Federal Police have responded extremely well. A lot of effort has gone into education and training and I believe that most police now understand their obligation to intervene in cases of violence in the home.
The Domestic Violence Crisis Service, which was established two years ago, provides very valuable support and counselling services to victims. The workers at the service, who are often called out with the police, have shown great dedication and courage in helping women and children. The seriousness of the problem in our own community is demonstrated by the fact that crisis service workers are called with the police to more than 70 serious assaults every month and receive more than 500 calls each month on the crisis line.
All too often the reason why women live with domestic violence is that they have no option; they have nowhere to go. These women's options are usually also restricted by the types of community attitudes to which I have referred. As an Institute of Criminology paper put it:
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