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Family violence laws fail young women
1 March 2006
Young women need new legislation and a new approach from police and courts to protect them from family violence, the Victorian Law Reform Commission said today.
“Women between the ages of 18 and 24 are more at risk of family violence than those in any other age category,” law reform commissioner Judith Peirce said.
“This danger intensifies when women experience pregnancy because research has shown this is often the time when family violence first rears its head.
“We have released a report today that makes 153 recommendations to better protect victims of family violence by changing legislation, improving police and court processes, and updating education and training.
“It should be easier for people to apply for an intervention order and they need better protection once they have one.
“It can be daunting for anyone to use our legal system, but even more so for young people who may have less life experience and self-confidence.
“We’ve recommended plain English documents and explanations in court, better police responses to people who breach orders, consistent sentencing of offenders, allowing victims to stay in the family home rather than the violent person, and better protection of women with children.
“Community education is vital if we want to rid our society of this violence. We think a long-term campaign should be conducted that focuses on changing the attitudes of young people so they don’t accept violence.
“Our report also recognises that teenagers’ family violence is a significant problem. Victims of particular concern are girlfriends, siblings and mothers. Intervention orders are a good way to tackle this violence but we’ve also recommended safeguards to ensure teenagers do not get trapped in the criminal system,” Ms Peirce said.