Domestic Violence In Australia

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Recent amendments to Queensland and Federal Legislation have not solved the problem of domestic violence in Queensland, let alone Australia. Domestic violence involves both physical and emotional behaviour with the patterns of this behaviour centred on power and control for the abuser. Legislation involved in protecting women and men in a domestic violence relationship has been amended to better protect victims. On the other hand, there is an escalating social and legal issues with domestic violence within Australia. Recommendations need to be done to amend Australia legislation, to add protection to victims of domestic violence. Domestic violence is growing rapidly within Queensland and Australia and needs further change to legalisation …show more content…

In reality, when an offender is given a DVO, it is difficult to stop them from breaching the DVO and causing harm to the victim. A recent domestic violence case in Toowoomba shows the ineffectiveness of the DVO system, with a woman filing for a DVO after two years in a domestic violence relationship. The DVO had been in place yet the husband came into her home and threatened to kill her. She felt like the DVO provided her with no protection and was useless, with the husband looking at it as just a piece of paper. Additionally, offenders who receive a DVO and breach it, rarely receive a maximum penalty even if they are a repeat offender. In Constable S J Miers v Blewett [2013], the respondent was charged with breaching the DVO set by the applicant, and also had previous criminal charges. The prosecution did not consider any of the previous criminal behaviour, and the respondent was given a sentence …show more content…

One woman is killed each week by a current or former partner, with 90% of domestic violence victims being women (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012, Personal Safety Survey, Cat. No. 4906.0, Canberra). On the Gold Coast, Teresa Bradford was stabbed to death by her estranged husband on Tuesday the 28th February this year. The husband was on bail after strangling and choking Teresa, with her not knowing of his release early February. David Bradford stabbed and bashed Teresa with David later killing himself. The couple’s four children were home at the time, with them watching the incident. Police recommended Teresa and children seek refuge in a safe home but didn’t go through with it, as she thought David was in jail. Anti-violence campaigner Rosie Batty says that “police should have told her (Teresa) that David was seeking release…. this horrific crime should result in mandatory bail notifications for all domestic violence victims, and she said a very vulnerable woman had been failed by the justice system” (Ferrier, 2017, Courier Mail). Queensland needs to change bail laws, to stop dangerous domestic violence perpetrators being released. Teresa Bradford was let down by the Queensland courts, with it being a case that can’t be

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