Attorney-General Nicola Roxon and her predecessor Robert McClelland have been hailed as ‘heroes’ this week for dragging Australia’s domestic violence laws into the 21st Century.
The definition of domestic violence has been changed to include:
1. Stalking.
2. Repeated verbal abuse.
3. Intentionally damaging or destroying property. (Similar to what happened in Grant Hackett’s family home).
4. Preventing someone having contact with friends or family.
5. Cruelty to the family pet
The Family Law Act has been changed to also ask whether children have been exposed to domestic violence. This would apply if a child ‘sees or hears … or otherwise experiences the effects of family violence’.
Comedian and writer Catherine Deveny takes up the case against the critics of the changes. She writes:
“Nicola Roxon and all involved are today’s heroes after this magnificent triumph for victims of domestic violence.
This incredible justice has been met with tantrums from some, who I can only assume are abusers or sympathetic to abusers because they conveniently prop up many of their beliefs and prejudices. These people assert changes in the law will lead to an ‘avalanche’ of false claims by vindictive partners and that there are ‘millions’ of false rape and abuse claims. By women.
Shouldn’t these thug apologists who all seem to believe men are the hidden majority of domestic violence victims be thrilled by this news? Why are they not ecstatic more women will be punished and justice be done for this disproportionate amount of silent male victims?
Catherine Deveny
Bone up.
1. Over 75% of domestic violence cases go unreported.
2. Now we’ve added emotional, verbal, social and financial abuse to the definition of domestic violence the percentage of unreported and reported cases will increase significantly.
3. 95% of domestic violence victims are women.
4. Domestic violence is the leading cause of death or injury for women aged 15 – 44.
5. The most dangerous place for a woman or girl is in her own home.
6. The person most likely to injure, assault or kill a girl or woman is a man she is related to.
7. Most women don’t report domestic violence. Most don’t even consider it violence as many are chosen as partners by bullies and creeps precisely because these women are naive, vulnerable and/or easy to manipulate and have been convinced abuse is their fault or minimized the abuser’s resposibility for their actions. Some studies suggest greater amounts of empathy could make some more susceptible to becoming victims of domestic violence than others.
8. The amount of false claims are minuscule (and the amount of false claims that lead to charges 1000 times smaller than minuscule) in comparison to the amount that go unreported or result in no charges.
9. Misogynists will amplify the false claims and amount of female perpetrators and minimise the amount, extent and variety of abuse.
10. It is not only domestic violence if there are bruises, cuts, broken bones or blood you can see. Domestic violence is an epidemic.
This change in the law is not making the goal posts wider but a long overdue catch up. The law has been behind for centries and finally it’s beginning to catch up. Victims of domestic violence are not now ‘out in front’ , they are just a little less behind than they are and have been for years.
Let’s hope social attitudes from Neanderthals, internalized misogynists and self-hating women will follow.
It’s not okay to bully, slap, punch, stalk, hate on, scream at or hurt bitches, slags, nags or sluts either.
Even if they were ‘asking for it’.”
This was first published on Catherine Deveny’s website here.
- One woman’s story. The truth about why she didn’t leave.
What do you think of the new laws? Could they have helped you or a friend?
Catherine Deveny is a writer, comedian and social commentator. Her novel The Happiness Show will be published in 2012 by Black Inc Books. You can follow Catherine on Twitter here. You can see her In Conversation With Samuel Johnson June 17 buy tickets here.
Comments
93 Comments so far
I was before the Ipswich Magistrate in October 2012 for a Domestic Violence Order under the new laws. I was told that there is no precedent for this and so the Magistrate and the police prosecutor both suggested that I not proceed with my application because I was self-representing. I had a panic attack. My matter was adjourned. It will be heard in February 2013 and I will once again be self-representing because no lawyer is prepared to take my case and be the first. No surprise that change takes so long and goes so slowly when experts are afraid to assist it to happen.
loading...
Pingback: Does this ad make you LOL? | HerCanberra
Does this mean that “NAGGING” is now considered as Domestic Violence?.
loading...
Wow – is there anything sensible to be said. Any law that allows anyone the opportunity to speak out against violence whether the stats be correct or not is a good thing. In time stats will level themselves out to reflect the trueness of the propositions. Do we need stats before we acknowledge problems. Explicit knowledge can not be denied because someone has not done the stats. Lack of proof does not mean something did not happen. Emotional abuse is hard to prove and this is what abusers rely on. Abusers lie, abusees lie too, and that is what abusers rely on.
Fear makes people lie. Who needs stats to know that abusers are also abusees at some point but that does not make it right. So women may be abusers because they have been abused and the same goes for men. Maybe the one third percieving they have been forgotten are part of a backlash by women with the increase of women’s rights over the last 50 years. Perhpas the one third ought to be confronting their male conterparts for placing them in this precarious position. Perhaps the two thirds ought blame their female counterparts for what ever reason they can come up with. And perhaps both genders ought blame the other. No doubt by the time the stats reveal the story, time will have past, and so will have our behavior and the stats will no longer reveal the current day and the problems at hand.
The people who are being hurt and who are hurting is what matters. Change in future attitudes is what matters and admitting abuse and stopping it is what matters. For those of us who have been abused any change is better than none. It has to start somewhere and a shift in who is feeling the fear is a good place to start legally and sociologically.
loading...
This is a really dreadful blog. The truth remains clear. 1 in 3 victim of DV in Australia are male. Which means 1 in 3 male victims receive no support or services and 1 in 3 females who are violent receive no help or support. Catherine this is the truth that you so blindly ignore. It is such a terrible shame that you and other cannot see this.
loading...
Just want to say as well that there are male victims of emotional, verbal & physical abuse at the hands of their female (or male) partners.
To highlight that 95% of abuse victims are women is making light of the fact that 1). there is still 5% of victims who are male, and they are just as worthy of protection under these laws; 2). that men are unlikely (for various, but similar, reasons to women) to report the abuse they are going through at the hands of their partner, meaning that it is only 95% of ~reported~ domestic abuse victims who are female. There are many unreported cases of abuse, and many of these are male victims.
No abuse or domestic violence is acceptable, and ~all~ victims should be recognized and given support and protection, female ~and~ male.
See: http://www.oneinthree.com.au/malevictims/
loading...
onya Mmammia for running this. There will be no real changes until Family Law allows children’s lives to be assessed outside of this adversarial process and gives them a real voice and a real choice. It is so important that the public realises what damage is being done to kids by the presumption of shared parenting in Family Law. Some kids can never get away from their abusers who are often given sole custody. The changes coming in today won’t help these kids unless they are allowed a real choice and a real voice. Suppression orders only protect the guilty including a lot of ‘judicial officers’ – they don’t protect the innocent. We formed Justice for Children Australia in 2010 to fight for today’s changes and to take any assessment of children’s welfare, wellbeing safety and happiness out of the adversarial legal system and into a more child-focused process. Today’s changes don’t go nearly far enough and don’t seem to included any provision for judges to listen to children any more than they already have (recent study shows 86% of them don’t!) unless you count the wishy-washy UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Judges are not obliged to do anything so kids end up being condemned to danger and harm through judges and magistrates capricious unreasonable and inhumane decisions. Judicial officers are not mandatory reporters of child abuse by the way.
loading...
As a male victim of domestic violence, I for one am sick and tired of the portrayal of women being the only victims.
I was so damaged by the ten years of abuse that I shall never marry again. It just isn’t worth the risk.
Also, these laws are open to abuse. It is as if what a woman says is always the absolute truth and beyond reproach.
More and more fathers will never see their children, due to morally corrupt women making false accusations of DV.
No wonder our society is going down the drain.
loading...
You are so right. Dealing with a situation now where someone has admitted their male friend is being “treated badly” by his “bitchy wife”, but hearing the full description of the relationship, I can see it is clearly domestic violence, not just marriage problems. Trying to get this person to recognize that their friend is in an abusive relationship, and that they need to help their friend (and his 2 daughters), not just stand by and wait for him to stand up for himself. The daughters are already exhibiting serious emotional & psychological problems due to the abuse their mother directs at their father in front of them.
loading...
These changes would have made a world of difference to the way my family law case was handled by my own lawyers and the court system.
Reading this has rendered me rather emotional, as I remember having to sit there in the police station and in my lawyer’s office for hours and hours, over months, in order to explain why I was taking a stand. It was worth it in the end, of course.
My experience of things done to me were perceived differently by the system. The only thing that seems to be consistently seriously considered is that old chestnut, wall punching.
I told them I had been sexually abuse, the system called it ‘kinky sex’. I said he had committed cruelty to animals, the system said ‘harsh discipline’. They also said the same thing for incidents relating to our baby.
I was prevented from leaving the house to go to work, followed to the bus-stop on occasions, had my keys hidden, was ‘surprised by my spouse’ at work, had my email read, browser history regularly checked and phone calls listened in on. Have this go on for years and it’s amazing what you think you can learn to live with. Was this stalking? Apparently not. I was told by a police officer that he would have had to call me “like twenty times a day” to qualify for that.
At the point I was threatening to finally walk out, I’d been physically threatened and prevented from leaving the home and made to agree to ‘contracts’ he had me draw up. I was socially isolated with no friends or family apart from his own. I was a shaking, nervous wreck, too terrified to even file for an AVO.
Mostly because none of the things that happened to me were, in a nutshell, ‘bad enough’, according to the legislation two years ago.
These amendments makes it ‘bad enough’. It gives people like me, caught in these formerly ambiguous grey DV areas empowerment and the ability to refer to the Act when faced with a legal advisor or overworked police officer whose attitude effectively destroy your courage to progress your case.
loading...
This comment is the reason why the legislation needed redefining. Wallpunching is bad enough but when your partner conducts a campaign to terrrify you on a daily basis, you know you’re in deep sh!t. The legislation, applied properly, could mean the end of all of that.
loading...
From the comments on this article, I’m convinced that the men’s rights groups have full time positions for people to monitor and comment on any story that talks about women, DV, Family Law, etc. You don’t normally see so many comments from men on MM, and these come across as very aggressive (eg. swearing).
loading...
Maybe it is just because, MM, a site that is supposed to be all anti sexism, gets someone like Catherine, one of, if not the, most sexist commentators around, to write a post on something as serious as this. Shame MM.
loading...
A Found Clutch i465 black Out of Christian Louboutin
loading...
Hello team Mia.
I think most of the changes are great, but I was wondering if someone with some extra legal ‘know how’ could clarify something for me.
The legislation seems to state…
http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/ACTS/2012/12AC005.pdf
Division 2, 8, (5)
‘Examples of surveillance by using technology—
• reading a person’s SMS messages
• monitoring a person’s email account or internet browser history
• monitoring a person’s account with a social networking internet site
• using a GPS device to track a person’s movements
• checking the recorded history in a person’s GPS device’
Does this mean if a parent checks a child’s Internet history to ‘see what they are up’ or demands their Facebook password then they are guilty of domestic violence?
Any assistance would be warmly welcomed with Internet style high fives.
loading...
Also – does it mean if a husband is having an affair and the wife is checking up on him (snooping sms, facebook etc) that he is not guilty of domestic violence but she is?
loading...
I think the key word is “surveillance” using technology.
It would unnerving to know your every digital move and every conversation was being monitored by someone you are in relationship with, or anyone else for that matter.
It is a form of control, especially if someones partner is refusing them access to friends and family.
loading...
Where does violence come from?
Is there extra pressure in monogamous society?
Women actual love their partners…even when they are hurting them. That is…true.
loading...
Leah, “Where does violence come from?”
If you really want to understand the answer to that question might I suggest reading Richard B Felsons “Violence and Gender Reexamined” APA 2002
loading...
Thank you Greg. I will read this book.
loading...
I haven’t read thru the other comments but I have been thru DV. I pressed charges, jumped thru all the hoops that the justice system asked. All rights given to the defendant. He was Originally charged with attempted murder then it was downgraded to maliciously inflict grevious bodily harm. Found guilty given 5 years jail. He appealed that – was back on the street within 2 hours. Went to the next judge he overturned it all said he didn’t believe me!? I had somehow caused the injuries to myself apparently.. 12 years on I still have health problems. That is what is wrong. The police work hard for DV victims but the justice system serves no justice. If I had my time over I wouldn’t have reported it..
loading...
I really wish the Government would introduce a program for male and female high school students to assist the future generation to acknowledge and recognise domestic violence providing them with tools and stradegies to cope and deal with emotions before they turn violent.
On another note; why they hell did Catherine even attempt to write an article on Domestic Violent. Such a insentive action on such a sensitive topic.
I would have enjoyed reading an article by Catherine in regards to Tony Abbot running from the Chamber, but this…..tacky!
loading...
Catherine Deveny this is a litany of lies, lies repeated and printed so many times by gender ideologues that they are accepted by an ignorant public at face value.
Of course you don’t quote your sources, this would make your missrepresentations all too obvious. The reality is that at lease one in three victims of family violence in Australia is male, I am one of them and I know many others. I suggest you check out the extensively referenced fact sheets at http://www.oneinthree.com.au , Domestic violence is a terrible thing for any victim, ignoring 1/3 of the victims and their families via idological adherence to the disproven Duluth model of DV as gendered phenomenon, is bad for everyone. This strategy has not works for the last 40 years of its not going to work now, but unfrotunately those parasites who earn a living from the DV industry are unlikely to relinquish their power and control over families any time soon, they will simply continue to abuse.
loading...
Congrats Greg for speaking up. Violence is wrong , whoever the perpetrator and victim. I wonder how many men are ashamed to speak up and therefore the numbers are skewed. Whenever I see campaigns regarding violence against women I feel sad that it’s not a campaign against violence full stop. Men who abuse women are arseholes but by ignoring the possibility that men can also be abused we are guilty of protecting the abusers and shaming the victims.
loading...
She did provide a reference (which provides its own references) and if you take the time to read it, then the 1 in 3 scenario is true worldwide is true.
DV stats are notoriously difficult to get a true picture of anyway, because of the reluctance to report, fear of repurcussions or disbelief of those hearing about it.
loading...
Now we just need the Department of Education and Communities to have more powers to act when children witness domestic violence.
loading...
Be it men or women as the victim – domestic violence is wrong. How sad it is that most of the comments re this article are focussed on the statistics.
i have been the victim of domestic violence and sadly live in a regional area that reports higher than average statics of domestic violence than most places in Australia and applaud anyone who has the courage to stand up and address the issue head on publicly.
Come on people, get behind the cause.
loading...
Your first sentance says it all, and is exactly the reason we are arguing against misleading stats that all but ignore a large part (at least a third) of the problem.
loading...
74.98% of statistics are made up on the spot but that doesn’t mean that they are wrong.
loading...
I knocked a chair over on purpose this morning. I was by myself. I hope that isn’t classed at domestic violence.
loading...
Nice to see the leading cause of death for young women is an amusing topic for you.
loading...
See how quickly misleading facts get accepted as real.
loading...
I really do think that any article which contains statistics ought to acknowledge where those statistics came from and how old they are. The real statistics on domestic violence are scary enough but this figure appears to have been plucked from the air or from other media.
I quickly visited ABS and the statistics for SA (where I live) are: 12% of men who report being assaulted identify family members as the the person who assaulted them. 42% of women who report being assaulted identify family members as the people who assaulted them.
Statistics are boring, I know, but only real facts are helpful in these types of discussions. The Australian Bureau of Statistics is available to everyone and I’m hoping Ms Deveny accesses it soon.
Also, can we please dispense with the use of the term “social commentator”?
loading...
I see the mens rights activists are here to once again ruin the internet.
loading...
Yeah, how rude of blokes to not just roll over and accept rubbish statistics that all but paint every offender as male and every victim as female, despite all credible research suggesting a ratio more like 1:2.
loading...
Oh my poor puffed up poppinjay, if indeed men are domestic violence victims in equal proportion to women then surely you would be welcoming these new measures which would protect both men and women equally.
But I don’t see any evidence of that here. Instead, I can see that you and your ilk have been busy with your usual tactics of misinformation and outright lies, trying to convince us that the work of the ABS, the Police and the Australian Crime Commission in gathering statistics on domestic violence is false. Please. This would be almost comical if it weren’t so predictable.
loading...
Tania quoted all of the ABS stats below, which backs up what we are saying, which is purely that Catherines stats are misleading, and the product of an anti male agenda. I think you are pointing the finger at the wrong people if you are after those that mis use data and facts. The biggest offender is the author of this post.
And who ever argued equal proportion. The numbers, time and again, are that men make up around a third of victims. That is all we want, to loose the ‘all men are evil thugs, all women victims’ mentality, pushed by the likes of Catherine.
And to all those that are getting all worked up thinking we are anti female or pro DV, get a life, there is a big difference in disputing the facts and sexist tone pushed by Catherine, and what you are suggesting there.
loading...
Did you read vanessayoung’s stats from the ABS for SA?
12% of men being assaulted report family members
41% of women being assaulted report famil members etc
Bit different to your 1:2. I wonder how different the other states are……
loading...
Your attempt to compare those two percentages is somewhat confounded by the much larger of number of assaults against men committed overall (street violence is primarily committed by and against men). This is pretty basic maths here…
loading...
Oh Catherine Deveny, what a great article. You show the world that you are a radical mouth foaming feminist and make up stats on the spot. I think men account for 1 in three victims of domestic violence serious injuries. That’s a fairly large number to be dismissed, but that’s what the bullshit 95% stat you made up is supposed to do right?
loading...
The dismissive comments about this article sadden me. But so does this topic.
loading...
95% of domestic violence victims are women?
That leaves 5% for children and pets.
Domestic violence is the leading cause of death or injury for women aged 15 – 44. Injury maybe, but linking death is dishonest beyond belief.
Domestic violence is a tragedy that affects too many people. The first step toward a solution is to honestly assess the situation. At least the author self-identifies as a comedian.
loading...
Actually, the White Ribbon Campaign also state the injury/death fact as well.
loading...
I’ll back the bureau of statistics 1/3rd of victims are men stat all the same thanks. Those with vested interests and bias (hi catherine) tend to quote misleading stuff.
loading...
You don’t say…
loading...
Ok, Some Random, you are suggesting I am the misleading one. Please quote your sources and explain why Tania below is incorrect in her detailed review of the very latest ABS statistics, and therefore why I am incorrect as well. I will be waiting smarty pants.
loading...
I think that the legislation might help some women, but I fear that this article will not. In my experience name calling and aggression rarely helped anyone. I’m not an apologist, and I have no problem with women having strong opinions and articluating them, I try to be that woman myself.
I witnessed more domestic violence than I care to remember as a child, my sister and other friends have been victims, my brother a perpetrator. I’m sad that the way this discussion has been started is with this article; it’s inviting people to be defensive. And yes, I know that we are all responsible for how we react to something, but lets be honest, there are ways of addressing this issue which may not invite it.
loading...
This is a blow to liberty, because such wide ranging laws are open to abuse, now tell me this, if it can be abused in terms of custody battles, do you think it will be?
These stats are all completely made up on the spot.
It’s great that you can’t hurt the dog, but you weren’t allowed to anyway. You can’t physically hurt anyone, it’s already in the law.
Punching walls from frustration is better than punching someone. My mother used to throw things all the time, but never at someone. Way too subjective to be useful, but enough to be very dangerous
Of course it will. Catherine you are extreme and you come across as a man hater
loading...
No you’re not allowed to harm animals or be cruel to them but this gives the police more power to do something. I’ve lived through the fear of my dogs being hurt cos my ex was throwing a tantrum. I never thought he would hit me and he never did but I was scared of him destroying things and him hurting or scaring my dogs so I would get them and hide. Now that is considered domestic violence which means instead of being scared of him doing those things (which legally he could mostly get away with) now he can’t and my dog is safer in a legal sense. And that makes me feel much safer.
loading...
I volunteer at Lifeline and the amount of callers who do not realise that what they are experiencing is abuse is hard to believe. But this knowledge empowers them, especially being told that it is illegal. I can not encourage them to leave, but explaining that what I’m hearing is abuse and focusing on their strength, I like to think it helps. It certainly sounds as though it does, even if only just one small step.
Yelling at your partner for forgetting the washing will NOT be considered abuse in the eyes of the law, if you are not undermining their power and freedom by doing so. People need to stop with the slippery slope arguments and spare a thought for those out there who need legislation change in order to fight for their health, sanity and freedom.
loading...
Unless it causes fear… however unreasonable… Just another of the new changes.
It’s right there if you read through the now passed amendments. This isn’t a slippery slope or somehting we are afraid may happen. It is reality.
loading...
So disappointed that you have picked CD’s blog to bring this issue to MM.
CD is a comedian/commentator who is either loved or loathed by people and her comments on a sensitive issue like family violence would never have been adequately or appropriately worded to encourage a valuable discussion from readers of MM.
This is really destructive to the purpose of the legislation.
Gosh, I’m so disappointed and sorry that I read this here.
loading...
My thoughts exactly
loading...
So you think domestic violence kills more women aged 15 -44 than the road toll do you. Right. Many hundreds of women in this age group die on the roads each year in australia.
The 95% stat is total rubbish too, and even more rubbish under this revised definition of DV.
You are full of it, and have clearly gone to the Kate Ellis school of just making up any bullshit to support your cause.
loading...
The stat was death or injury, not just death.
loading...
Twist it any way you want, it is still a blatently false and misleading statistic.
loading...
Anon. aside from the statistics I think the issue at hand is what’s important. Some people are working to make a difference and more power to them!
loading...
Three years ago, we lost an amazing friend. She was lured out of the house by her ex husband, chased, and stabbed to death. He left her bleeding to death on the street, whle her children and family were out the back. They didn’t hear her scream, and came out to find her already dead in the middle of the street. Now, my friend could not previously press any domestic violence charges against her husband as under the old laws, he had not committed any offences. Under the new laws, she would have been able to go to the police, and may still be alive today. Any law that protects women and their children is a necessity. People who are against the law need to go and spend one night in a domestic violence shelter, or be forced to live in a relationship for 4 years where they are belitteld, degraded, shouted at, and reduced to nothing. Then come back and tell me you don’t think these laws are neccessary. Wise up, get an education, and think before you speak (or write)
loading...
I understand the emotion of specific cases, I detest any violence, HOWEVER, nobody should go around dropping massively misleading statistics. To say as much doesnt make me any the less anti DV.
loading...
Did you actually read the above article. No empathy!!!!!!!
loading...
um, yes, your point. Please point out using ABS statistics where I am wrong and Catherine is right, then I will take you seriously.
loading...
To those of you making comments about the stats being bullshit and saying that this will only increase the false allegations of family violence, I am sorry to say you are the reason why the rates of reporting are so low and why family violence is the main cause of death in women aged 15-44. By making such uninformed comments on important posts such as this only reinforces the family violence dynamic for all the women and the stats are 1 in 3 who are victims of violence!
As a family lawyer who spends everyday dealing with family violence situations can say that the new definition of family law doesn’t mean that every time we yell at our partners or say that they can’t buy new golf clubs doesn’t mean that we are abusive. The definition is two pronged and I acknowledge that this hasn’t been explained well here. The verbal abuse or withholding of money will only been seen as family violence if it is done to control, coerce or cause fear. And unfortunately this is happening to Australian women and children every day…. Family violence not only affects women but our children also – children who have been repeatedly exposed to family violence actually suffer developmentally. Research shows that their brain patterns differ to children who have been exposed to family violence and further it can instill in them core values that family violence is okay which leads to intergenerational systemic violence.
I implore those of you who intend to comment to please think before you post some thing negative about this article. Fair enough if you don’t like but you may just be stopping women (or men) from speaking out about their experiences of family violence and how can we stop something that we don’t know is happening….
loading...
As a lawyer, you should know better than to believe these bull shit stats. There is less than one women a week that die at the hands of a spouse in australia. Interestingly, the rate of men dying by spouse is greater than a third the rate for women (not 95%). Compare those numbers to the road toll. Get your facts right.
loading...
How does your road toll argument work exactly? More people die on our roads… so…. DV is ok?
Social stats are extremely hard to measure and quantify, and many different measurements will produce many different results… that’s just the way it is with social statistics. Doesn’t change the fact that DV is wrong, comes in a variety of forms, and should be fought against.
Your point is lost on me.
loading...
My point is a very simple one, and that is that this story quotes very incorrect stats. How exactly is pointing this out saying DV is not wrong ffs.
No matter how emotive the topic, if someone uses BS stats, they should be held to account.
loading...
Only yesterday a friend told me i “have no authority” to speak about my personal experience of domestic violence because 1. I haven’t studied it at university and 2. The reason for the violence was an outlier from statistics i.e. he beat me up because we were both raised in chrstian patriarchy where women must submit to men (they call this complementary).
I pointed out that the statistics cant be relied upon because i, like most people, did not report the abuse.
It was really upsetting to me that i was shot down and told my experience was invalid because of statistics.
loading...
Gemmie I am genuinely sorry that you had that experience. And that is exactly my point its not the statistics that matter is people’s experiences and that they feel they can’t speak about them because of people’s reactions, the fear that they won’t be believed or that people will say it was their fault or they deserved it.
Please stop the negativity here…
loading...
Lol, so the lawyer that quoted stats to back her point now says, when proved wrong, that the stats dont matter. does that approach work in court?
loading...
What are the correct statistics Anon? Name your source.
loading...
Refer tanias post below.
loading...
Anon your attitude towards this issue and the comments above sadden me immensely.
loading...
FAR OUT, what saddens you, that I dare to call bull shit on bull shit statistics generated by someone with a man hating agenda to push.
Ok, lets try this. I am publishing the fact that 100% of domestic violence is against men by evil women. If you dispute my fact, it shows that you are pro violence against men, and that saddens me.
See how ridiculous your (and others in here) argument is. There is no correlation at all between questioning the stats Catherine uses, and not being horrified by DV, which I am.
loading...
Thankyou sara for a voice of sanity.
loading...
I am so glad that the family pet is getting a show of support in this law and can cruelty against them is now considered domestic violence. Too often do cowards in a dysfunctional family take their anger and aggression out on a helpless animal…
NB: Support Oscar’s Law if you feel strongly for dogs welfare http://www.oscarslaw.org/
loading...
The inclusion of pets is because abusers often hurt the abused person by threatening and hurting the family pet. It also stops people leaving because of threats to the pets. Its a good thing for women (and I say woman because yes they are the majority even if the stats above are sus) and pets
loading...
Just a note: the nubmer of unreported cases will probably decrease because the changes to the family law act now makes it compulsory for the Court to ask whether domestic violence is an issues (it used to be up to the parties to raise the issue – which they usually didn’t for fear that they would breach the now-scrapped “friendly parent” provisions).
*high five*
loading...
This article is a load of bollocks. In every major study that asked men (as opposed to gender studies one’s who deliberately phone during the middle of the day to avoid the male opinion, why is that?) men who were actually asked responded by being the victim of domestic violence in more than half the cases. It’s amazing what a clear picture you get when radical feminists like Catherine aren’t in charge of the study.
Also the conviction rate of female abusers is so low in proportion, it’s around 5% which is 8 times less and those who are convicted serve smaller sentences for the same crime (ie stabbing, shootings, yes, things fists don’t do).
loading...
” met with tantrums from some, who I can only assume are abusers ”
Really? I think some of us are civil Libertarians who see the laws are ripe for massive exploitation. Now if someone gets angry and goes downstairs and hits the boxing bag they are being abusive.
Now if a spouse cheats on a partner and they get yelled at, the other spouse is abusive. Guess what, people yell at each other all the time, we are all human, but we make up and get on with it. Suppressing anger is not healthy, that doesn’t make people abusers and people are mostly free to leave people at any time when if the don’t like someone’s attitude.
“Don’t buy that extra pair of shoes, you have a hundred”
Financial abuse.
loading...
Catherine, you should be banned from discussing this important issue because of your clear, man hating bias.
At least credit to Nicola in not making one gender comment in her press release. At least the government acknowledges that this is a problem, and that purpertraitors come in all shapes, sizes, and genders.
If anything, this change of definition will shine a light on the many non physical way partners can abuse, and trust me, it is not only women that are victims of emotional abuse and blackmail.
Catherine, you are a disgrace quoting you bull shit, un sourced fantasy statistics.
loading...
I’m looking for a citation for the “greater amounts of empathy” link but just going around in circles to.another blog that quotes it but no link. Anyone managed to find where this is from? Would like to read it. Thanks
loading...
I think the laws are open for abuse themselves. I yell at my husband because he throws his washing on the ground, so I am now an abuser?
I think Catherine Deveny sounds like a one sided gender studies teacher who makes up her own stats
loading...
You “yell” at your husband for that??
loading...
What radfem site did you get your information from Cath?
Women do not make up 95% of domestic violence victims, not only is that so far removed from almost every statistic I have read, even from hardline feminists, it is an insult to the male victims of domestic violence which such statements deliberately try to minimize.
1. Can not be substantiated and is just a stab in the dark.
2. Is obvious because now when 2 partners yell at each other they have committed abuse and wont report it
3. is a lie
What sort of radical nonsense is this?
loading...
Actually, if you check the ABS statistics on domestic violence you’ll find that actually, that is the case.
Men are victims of domestic violence too, but proportionally women are affected much, much more.
Check your stats.
loading...
Sally, I’ve been there and can’t find anything on 95% at all, sound like bull to me.
The highest I can make out from a quick google:
The Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey is the largest and most recent survey of violence in Australia. It found that:
29.8% (almost one in three) victims of current partner violence since the age of 15 were male
24.4% (almost one in four) victims of previous partner violence since the age of 15 were male
29.4% (almost one in three) victims of sexual assault* during the last 12 months were male
26.1% (more than one in four) victims of sexual abuse* before the age of 15 were male
The Australian Institute of Criminology (2008)7 found that 48.7% (almost one in two) adult victims of family homicide and 35.4% (over one in three) victims of intimate partner homicide in 2006-07 were male.
What ABS stats am I missing?
loading...
Thanks Tania, and I would also assume significantly lower rates of under reporting with men, for a variety of reasons.
loading...
Wow! This has made my day! I was a victim of repeated verbal and emotional abuse, he would hide my keys so I couldn’t leave, destroy my property and display uncontrollable violence. He also owned several guns, I was terrified. I always thought that if he hit me, I would leave, but because there were no bruises I didn’t realise it was abuse. Over a few years, he went from shoving me, to slapping me and eventually he tried to strangle me and slammed my face into the floor boards. I realised it was only a matter of time before I was seriously injured or worse. This is another step towards empowering these vulnerable women, hopefully it helps women to realise they need help, BEFORE it escalates to more serious physical violence.
loading...
this article has made my day. I’ve never been in an abusive relationship other than when I was at home and my brother used to threaten, intimidate and verbally abuse us (my sister, mum and I). I know he hits his g/friends and i know they don’t stay around long enough for it to happen twice (thank goodness). I moved out of home and he’d still drop by when having a bad day to tell me how worthless, hopeless and useless I am. The last time was in October when I phoned the police, he sent the usual ‘I’m so sorry, I have a lot on my mind and I need help’ text and I never responded. I then heard from him again when he text me to say he’d had a fight with our mum and he wanted me to check on her. I didn’t repsond to him but checked on my mum. Not much we can do to help her though, he’s still the apple of her eye. he just has problems.
It is the source of all my mental anguish. All of it.
loading...
sorry – it made my day because i didn’t know that his behavior was domestic violence. i thought it came from a partner not a brother.
loading...
“Liking” the awareness! Not the situation. Wishing you the very best in dealing with an awful situation xxx
loading...
Yes the laws are good, but Women desperately need a “white ribbon day” to teach them how to spot violent men and not get into relationships with them . Prime example number 1:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/outcry-as-child-killer-delays-case/story-e6freuy9-1226381317702
Scumbag Released in 2009 – shacks up with women with young children a few years later. HELLO!! who puts themselves and their kids in that situation. An idiot thats who !
loading...
Do I support the changes? Absolutely. Support and applaud them.
Do I think they would have helped me? No. Knowing something is not ok and being able to do something about it are two totally different things.
More articles, more discussion, more media, more support and less judgement. Breaking the silence is the most important thing that can be done.
loading...
To borrow a line from NZ – family violence, it’s not ok. This was an important awareness campaign with a really important component – it’s ok to ask for help. It gave perpetrators of domestic violence an avenue to seek help to change their ways…we should be doing this here too, while of course caring for, supporting and empowering the people it’s happening to.
Great article, thank you!
loading...
Hmmmm, I don’t think self-hating women is really the correct way to describe us.
Insecure and vulnerable maybe.
loading...