Domestic Violence In Australia

The aim of this essay is to analyse the policy area of women and health, specifically focusing on domestic violence and relating polices. Domestic violence is defined as “acts of violence that occur between people who have, or have had, an intimate relationship in domestic settings. These acts include physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse.” ( ). In Queensland domestic violence is covered by the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 ( ). Relative policies include National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children as well as state polices such as ( ).This essay will discuss relevant social issues and the significance with in the community. This essay will address the history and shifts in policy and

The first time domestic violence was brought to the public spotlight was during the 1970’s due to second wave feminists. Subsequently this emphasis on social issues regarding women’s rights lead to feminist-inspired law reforms in regards to domestic violence including the introduction of state domestic violence order regimes in the 1980s. Later in 1995 there were further amendments to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth); this amendment was set to specify family violence as one of the matters to be taken into account by the Family Court in determining the best interests of the child ( ). There have been many changes to the legislation and policies since then with the latest legislation being the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 and the national domestic violence policy being National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. The Family Violence Protection Act 2012 replaces the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989. Key changes to this legislation include addressing gaps in protection, police powers, voluntary intervention orders as well as increased penalties for breach offences ( ). The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children was released in 2011 it is a twelve year plan that aims to reduced violence perpetrated against women

One of the biggest challenges in reducing the rates of domestic violence is the lack of reporting. It has been suggested that that a large number of women do not report the abuse. There are numerous reasons as to why victims do not speak out these can include fear of the perpetrator, fear of not being believed or of being blamed, fear of approaching the police or medical profession, shame and or embarrassment, fear of psychologically reliving the incident, or denial that the incident ever occurred, particularly if sexual assault was involved ( ). Apart of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children is to both help raise awareness and remove the stigma and or change the community’s views on domestic violence. The suggested way in which this policy will to this is through campaigns like the summer of respect or the rugby league tackling violence campaign ( ). It is the hope of these policy makers that these campaigns have influence women to speak out about their abuse in a hope to aid data regarding domestic violence ( ). Other challenges this policy may face include Domestic and family violence in rural and remote communities, as well as Domestic and family violence in gay, lesbian,