WOMEN who have suffered domestic violence will stand shoulder to shoulder at Victorian Parliament this morning to support a motion in the Upper House for a review of the way coercive control is treated by the courts.
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Northern Victorian MP Tania Maxwell has put a motion to the house, calling on Parliament to acknowledge the patterns of harmful behaviour in family violence cases instead of viewing them as isolated incidents.
She will be accompanied by Lee Little, whose daughter Alicia Little, was killed at Kyneton by a vehicle driven by her partner in December 2017.
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Ms Maxwell said the review would shed light on how evidence was collected in domestic violence cases and presented in court.
"The experience of many victims... is that the courts exclude broader evidence that might include coercive and controlling behaviours or a history of intervention orders or convictions," she said.
"The single-incident approach of our justice system doesn't fit with the enduring nature of coercive control and some other family violence offending. It can effectively mean that offenders avoid accountability for the complex and enduring behaviour patterns that occur in abusive relationships."
Alicia, a 41-year-old mother of four, died after Charles McKenzie Ross Evans (43) ran into her in a Toyota Hilux on the property at which they lived.
He fled the scene without calling for help and was charged with murder but it was later plea-bargained to dangerous driving causing death.
Ms Little said the court did not require evidence of Alicia's consultations with the Centre Against Violence or her doctor. As a result it was not considered in the context of family violence.
Ms Maxwell will also be accompanied by survivor Michelle Skewes whose former husband has been sentenced to prison for domestic violence.
She said her husband had seemed sweet and attentive at first, but turned sinister when his behaviour escalated and he began to isolate her from friends. Ms Skewes said his coercive control was also directed towards their children.
Ms Maxwell said the "abhorrent behaviour of coercive control" must be brought to account.
"I'm asking the government review the prevalence of coercive control and the potential for evidence of such behaviour to be used in court cases," she said.
"My motion is to represent victims who have suffered and endured the effects and impacts of coercive control, and to seek much-needed changes to how organisations and our justice system respond to the impacts of coercive control and the traumatic implications that are often irreversible."
If you or someone you know is affected by family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. In central Victoria, the Centre for Non-Violence can be reached on 5430 3000. In an emergency, call 000.
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