WOMEN who have experienced violence want their experiences to be understood and their perpetrators held accountable by the justice system and their communities.
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They don’t want to be made to feel ashamed, and would like to be involved in decision making processes.
These are some of the findings of a report to be released today by the Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre.
Written by Carolyn Neilson and Bonnie Renou of the LCCLC, the Will Somebody Listen To Me report gives women escaping violence a voice about the gaps and barriers of the justice system.
Ms Renou said women’s voices allowed the authors to ‘’apply a critical lens to the family violence legal and support services, and look at whether it meets the needs of those women’’.
“Family violence makes up almost half of the work of the community legal centre, and according to family violence regional advisor Marg Singe, more than half of the work of police on patrol,’’ she said.
“The demand is growing, particularly in our region, and we hope that those voices remain prominent through the Royal Commission into Family Violence process, recommendations, and subsequent reform that is so needed.’’
Ms Renou said key themes coming from the women’s stories were that they wanted the decision-making to be more in their hands, their voices to be heard through the legal process, their experiences to be validated, and the offender to clearly acknowledge the harm that had been caused.
“This was an essential step toward their restoration,’’ she said.
“Some of the key turning points identified by women include one who felt that when her offender had been confronted in court by the magistrate by her allegations and made to respond and agree he had caused harm, she saw that this had a noticeable impact on his future behaviour.
“Seeking that acknowledgement was seen as more important in the process than criminal consequences (but not for all of the women).
“Many identified the difficulties they had had throughout their contact with the justice system and a number had simply given up on the legal process and moved towns to escape the risk.’’
During the interviews, the women were asked a number of questions about why they attended court.
More than 85 per cent wanted their concerns for their safety to be heard and respected, 73 per cent said it was to make their children safer, 65 per cent wanted the perpetrator to acknowledge the harm he had done, 64 per cent wanted his behaviour monitored, 57 wanted him to be challenged about his behaviour and 55 per cent wanted there to be clear community disapproval of his behaviour.
Only 28 per cent wanted the perpetrator to be punished.
Sian was one of those to tell her story in the hope of creating change.
Sian’s story started when her marriage ended and she started a new relationship. Very quickly the signs were there.
She found herself excusing his behaviours - manipulation, possessiveness, behaving 'like a baby' at times when things didn't go his way.
Within two years, the control became physical. He came home after a day out with friends and Sian's only memory of what happened next is waking up on the floor and phoning a friend.
Covered in bruises, Sian was too afraid to stay in the home she owned, so left that night to avoid further pain.
When she returned the following day, he was still in her home and again abused her.
It was then she phoned the police.
What followed was surreal. Sian is intelligent, articulate and strong, but found it difficult to find strength when she was forced to present at the local court seeking an intervention order.
'You're standing there at the counter wondering who is going to come in the door - it could be him," she said.
"That's where the system falls down.
"You don't know who is coming in and out, so you're watching all the time and it becomes very scary.
"I can remember the noise of the door."
Sian's former partner tried to make contact several times, but was never penalised for breaching the intervention order.
Sian never wanted him charged, but wanted him held accountable for his actions.
"The perpetrator should be accountable, not the survivor," she said.
"The perpetrator is allowed to say ‘yes, that happened’ and agree to move on and that's the end for them.
"But I'm left feeling hurt and damaged and I can't fix that on my own....yet the other person walks away.
"The impact on my life is huge. I live alone, I don't have a relationship and I think at times I could but then I think no I actually can't do it, the trust is gone.
"It's self preservation.
"Now it hurts too much to think that it might not hurt too much.
"I feel that I'm now in a good place, but that hurt is still a hurt.
"It's not that I wanted him to go to jail, but maybe for him to get help."
Sian encourages other women to seek help from professionals, and put together a safety plan.
But, she said, they need to be prepared that the court process is 'huge and horrible'.
"You don't feel safe and people can't protect you there.
"An IVO is a piece of paper and a piece of paper can't protect you, but it can give you strength.
"And it helps you because someone believes you.
"Belief is ultimate - when the police said 'we believe you' it was critical for me.
"If someone tells you something is happening, believe them.
"If you tell someone and they don't believe you, it becomes too hard to tell someone else."
Today’s report makes many recommendations about how the justice system response to women such as Sian can be improved, with the hope of improving their safety, social and health outcomes.
Some of the key recommendations include increased availability of violence prevention and men’s behaviour change programs, more consistency in frontline officers following the police code of practice, increased awareness of the safety needs of children, increased crisis accommodation, safer spaces and more information available at court.
“As recognised by the incoming Labor government, a greater awareness around family violence and subsequent increasing demands on the system, the current model is not keeping pace,’’ Ms Renou said.
“Our experience is that the issues and gaps in the system are compounded for those in rural and remote areas of the state.
“In Echuca we have the highest per capita rate of family violence and a Court that cannot cope with that demand – there are regular incidents at that site as a result. We need to address these issues as we would any other preventable risk.’’
Editorial: It's time for change
If you or someone you know is experiencing violence, phone 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.