|
Women's
Domestic Violence Peak Fears an Increase in Domestic Murders
The
proposed changes to the Family Law system will result in even more
deaths of women and children, unless the new Family Relationships
Centres to be established across the country prioritise safety of
women and children above all other considerations, according to WESNET
(the Women’s Services Network), peak body for domestic and family
violence services across Australia.
“We are horrified at the risks inherent in the current proposal. The
Commonwealth government must insist on the safety of women and
children as the highest priority when awarding tenders, and failure to
do this demonstrates that they do not understand the true nature of
domestic violence” said Maria Hagias, National Chairperson of
WESNET.
“Domestic violence relationships are relationships of unequal power
and control, of threats to harm and destroy and research tells us that
when a women leaves a relationship like this she is at the highest
risk of all” said Ms Hagias.
“Perpetrators of violence and abuse have cleverly used the
family court system to cause further harm to their victims in the past
and this must be taken into account” said Pauline Woodbridge,
Queensland WESNET representative.
“A non-specialised system which focuses on visible or “evidenced”
physical injuries to determine whether domestic violence exists for a
separating couple will fail the women and children” she said.
“They are the less powerful voices. How many more women and
children have to die?” she
said.
“This proposal towards the presumption of shared responsibility is
entirely going the wrong way. Rather
than presumptions towards the so-called rights of the parents to share
the child, we should be following in New Zealand’s footsteps and
have a presumption towards the absolute safety of the children.
Why is this so hard for the Australian government to
understand?” said Ms Woodbridge.
According
to Ms Woodbridge, “it took
the very public deaths of three small blonde blue eyed children in New
Zealand for the NZ family law legislation to err on the side of the
children’s safety. What
do we have to do? Just in
one week while I was studying this topic at university, Anna and
Gracie; Roxanne, Luke and Grace; and Amanda; were all murdered by the
intimate man in their lives. This was two weeks ago. These women and children have names.
Let their deaths not be in vain.
We note that the government will consider implementing useful
family law initiatives from other parts of the world.
We must follow New Zealand’s family law changes in this
respect. The current
proposals of the Howard Government appear to have been captured by the
men’s groups, who prioritise their ‘ownership rights’ over the
safety of women and children.”
“We must put in place a
‘safety first’ system” said
Ms Hagias.
“One which ensures the safety of women and children,
especially post-separation because of the volatile and high risk
involved when couples separate”.
For comment please
contact:
Maria Hagias, WESNET National Chairperson 0408 896 774
Pauline Woodbridge, QLD
WESNET representative 07 4721 2888
|