THE authors of a report looking at women's experiences of the justice system have spoken of the bravery and strength of those who shared their stories.
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Speaking at the launch, authors Carolyn Neilson and Bonne Renou acknowledged the courage of the women, who in sharing their stories of family violence allowed the Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre to apply a critical lens to the justice system and supports in place for women navigating their way through that.
The Will Somebody Listen To Me report, launched yesterday, will form the backbone of the organisation's submission into the Royal Commission into Family Violence.
Women participating in the research said their desired outcomes from the family violence legal process were for their safety to be heard and respected; their children to be safer; the offender to acknowledge the harm he had done and to change his behaviour; community disapproval of the offender’s behaviour and to begin to heal from the harm that had been caused.
The women raised a range of themes about inadequacies of the family violence legal system, including inconsistent and/or low police accountability in the family violence intervention order application process and investigation of breaches of the intervention order; lack of offender accountability; inconsistent responses from justice practitioners; inadequate addressing of the needs of children in the justice response and the need for a shift in community attitudes to occur so that violence is not acceptable.
Ms Neilson said she was struck by the courage, strength and resourcefulness of the women who participated and found they were 'screaming for change' with a collective voice.
"It's not that they don't have a voice, they have strong voices, they just need a community and justice system that will listen to them,'' she said. "We acknowledge the hard work they have done in their struggle for justice but trying to still keep safe. Preventing family violence is all about saving lives.''
If you or someone you know is experiencing violence, phone 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
RELATED: Will somebody listen?
READ THE FULL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS HERE