Dowry abuse discreetly affects lives daily, as Australia expands in population different traditions in other cultures also increase. Dowry Abuse is a form of Domestic Violence (DV) however this is not recognised in any legislation. Dowry Abuse can result in acts of DV resulting in physical, emotional and financial abuse. It is feared that DV incidents will intensify triggered by this Indian tradition of Dowries as it has been reported that one woman dies every hour due to a dowry- related incidents.
Dowries are an ancient and illegal Indian financial custom. When a woman gets married, her family will pay her new husband and his family a substantial amount of money which can include assets. India outlawed Dowries nearly 60 years ago, however
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For some families, what they receive in their first Dowry Payment isn’t enough, and they can demand more. Failure of the bride’s family to comply with these demands can result in some form of abuse towards the woman. This is where the term ‘Dowry Abuse’ starts to come into formation. Dowry Abuse is a form of abuse that can result in Domestic Violence, if the husband and his family feel they are not receiving enough in payment they can inflict physical, emotional and financial abuse onto the wife to persuade and threaten the other family to hand over more money.
Domestic Violence is seen in acts such as physical, emotional, verbal abuse and sexual assault (White Ribbon Australia). Domestic Violence can also include behaviour such as unauthorised surveillance as stated under s8(2)(h) which involves monitoring online accounts, placing the person on a GPS device and reading personal emails and texts. Also, relevant it financial abuse which is defined in acts such as depriving or threatening to deprive a person of their finances. At current Australia and Queensland recognises Domestic Violence and has responded to this issue by having legislation and
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At current Australia upholds the Marriage Act 1961 which outlines and defines all aspects necessary to enforce a marriage legally. Under the Marriage Act 1961 it is stated S23B that all members must enter the marriage freely and with full consent. In 2012 specific laws outlawing forced marriage were introduced to Australia, therefore making it an offence to coerce, threaten or deceive a person into getting married (Slater Gordon Lawyers, Forced Marriage in Australia). However, it is currently not against the law for a third party to arrange a couple to be introduced for marriage if the couple enters the marriage with free will and fully consenting, the marriage is then declared legal. The validity of marriages is established in S88D (d) which states that if the consent of either of the parties was not a real consent for a reason set out in subparagraph 23B(1)(d)(i), (ii) or (iii) of this act therefore is not recognised as a valid marriage. In Australia, property settlement for divorcing couples is determined by using a process the calculates the assets, liabilities and financial resources (TGB Lawyers). As Dowries is not recognised in Australian law, therefore the property settlement regarding Dowries are non-existent making it impossible for a woman to be legally entitled to retrieving her families Dowry payments. Indian national Sujana was a victim of dowry
Good morning Minister of the Families I am Juliet and I will be your consultant for today. I will be outlining the aspects of the law of Domestic and family violence that has a flaw in society. I will be analysing the current laws, evaluating the effectiveness of the law, comparing these laws, making recommendations for changes in the law and justifying how the proposed changes adequately address the needs of the Australian society. Domestic violence is a violent or aggressive behaviour within the home, typically involving the violent of a spouse or partner. Domestic violence in Australia occurs in the privacy of people’s homes and it is mostly upon women that are disadvantaged.
Under Australia’s current marriage laws, only persons of opposing sexes are allowed to get married. In other words, only a man can marry a woman under current law. The plebiscite will ask Australians whether they want to change that definition of marriage.
On a personal note, in researching a paper on marriage and divorce a few semesters ago, I found that in the early Victorian era (1935-1901), a woman entering marriage had almost no rights. All her property automatically became her husband's. Even if she had her own land, her husband received the income from it. A husband had the right to lock up his wife. If he beat her, she had no legal redress. The law mostly removed itself from marital relations. Married women were put into the same category as lunatics, idiots, outlaws and children, and treated as such.
Domestic abuse is quite a peculiar concoction to swallow. At first, it tastes like a sweet ambrosia but as it settles the pleasant dream quickly spoils into a putrid rot, leaving the victim confused and longing for what once was. Love- it is the factor that makes these cases so perplexing. The threats, the isolation, the insults, and the pain comes from what strikes as an unlikely source; an abuser whom one is close to or loves. To define, domestic abuse is intentional intimidation, physical assault, sexual assault, or any other abusive behavior by one intimate partner to another to display power or control. Its components include physical, sexual, and psychological violence as well as emotional abuse. As an outsider looking at a case of domestic
The wife 's desires for a girl also can be unselfish in their eyes by saying they are protecting them from a life of poverty since they had not yet had a son who could provide their prosperity. “Dowry deaths” are also an age old tradition that is a custom for the religion. But with the heavy problem of gendercide, the government outlawed the use of a dowry. But since tradition is so heavy and rich it still happens. The families want to live up to expectations and even if it is not “required” it still looks good for a family to compensate the other in a social standing. The problem with this is that they still see females as burdens even though there is no requirement to provide a dowry. It is the age-old tradition to give a dowry that is hurting the females. The old ways need to be adapted, and the culture itself needs to understand that it is okay not to provide a dowry. This is the only way change for females can come and ensure them a success and longevity in their
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
Although all forms of domestic violence are pressing issues of equal importance, this essay is more specifically directed at spouse abuse and aims to delve deeper into the issue of domestic violence by examining its causes with respect to the socioeconomic status of the particular family and its effects upon women in Australian society.
“Domestic violence is an emotional, physical, psychological, or sexual abuse perpetrated against a person by a person's spouse, former spouse, partner, former partner or by the other parent of a minor child” (McCue 2). While it is these things, the violence is also considered a pattern of demeanor used to establish power and control over another person with whom an intimate relationship is or has been shared through fear and intimidation (“Domestic Violence Sourcebook” 9). It has many names, including spouse abuse, domestic abuse, domestic assault, battering, partner abuse, marital strife, marital dispute, wife-beating, marital discord, woman abuse, dysfunctional relationship, intimate fighting, mate beating, and so on (2). Donna Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Accommodations, believes that domestic violence is “terrorism in the home” (2). This type of abuse involves threats, harm, injury, harassment, control, terrorism, or damage to living beings/property (2). It isn't only in relationships with spouses, it also occurs within family, elderly, and children (9).
" SECTION 1. The property, both real and personal, which any married woman now owns, as her sole and separate property; that which comes to her by descent, devise, bequest, gift or grant; that which she acquires by her trade, business, labor or services, carried on or performed on her sole or separate account; that which a woman married in this State owns at the time of her marriage, and the rents, issues and proceeds of all such property, shall, notwithstanding her marriage, be and remain her sole and separate property, and may be used, collected and invested by her in her own name, and shall not be subject to the interference or control of her husband, or liable for his debts, except such debts as may have been contracted for the support of herself or her children, by her as his agent. The Married Women 's Property Act 1882 (45 & 46 Vict. c.75) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that significantly altered English law regarding the property rights of married women, which besides other matters allow...
Domestic violence is an act of crime which occurs in domestic household units. It is also known as as spousal abuse or family violence. Domestic violence is not only related to physical abuse but also emotional, sexual, financial, mental and verbal threats. According to ( Human Right Watch, 1995) cited from Macionis, John J., 2008. Domestic violence is defined as bodily harm, usually accompanied by verbal threats and harassment, emotional abuse or the destruction of property as means of coercion, control, revenge, or punishment on a person with whom the abuser is in intimate relationship. Besides that, according to an article by Women’s Aid, the government defines violence as any incident of threatening behavior, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality. Domestic violence can happen and may happen to any individual despite their gender, social class or status, life style, age, family background, race, ethnicity or place of living. Any individual can be a victim of domestic violence. Based on an article titled Physical Violence against Women the World Health Organization reported that 40 to 70 percent of women were murdered in the United States, Canada, Australia and Israel by their husbands or male partners.
Domestic Violence is essentially any violence at home. I describe domestic violence as any behavior pattern that involves abuse by one partner against the other or within a family. Domestic Violence is any form of violence occurring in marriage, dating, cohabitation, or abuse against any member of the family except the spouse. For example, a woman or man who beats up her or his spouse commits an act of domestic violence. Similarly, a person who molests a child, whether biologically born to him or her, commits an act of domestic violence too. Domestic Violence takes different forms or aggressions and assault. The word abuse is commonly used to describe domestic violence. Abuse means improper usage or treatment of a living thing or any entity, especially for some benefit. There are several forms o...
No matter what the situation or the circumstance between two people, domestic violence will always be illegal. The definition for domestic violence could be ‘Domestic and family violence occurs when someone tries to control their partner or other family members in ways that intimidate or oppress them. Controlling behaviours can include threats, humiliation (‘put downs’), emotional abuse, physical assault, sexual abuse, financial exploitation and social isolations, such as not allowing contact with family or friends’ ("Definition of family violence | ALRC", 2016). Forms of physical assault would be pushing, grabbing, slapping and kicking. Sexual abuse would include sexual assault and sexual acts carried out against a person’s will. Different types of psychological abuse would include
Women did not control her own wealth, so therefore, a woman’s family wealth, was controlled by her father or her husband. Law 128 in the Code of Hammurabi states, “If a man take a wife and do not arrange with her the (proper) contracts, that woman is not a (legal) wife.”1 (Hammurabi 45). A woman would receive a dowry once she was married and left her family. A dowry is a financial gift such as money, property, or goods, which was a gift to her husband once they got married. Once a man married a woman, he then had access to the family’s dowry and the property, money, or goods were then, controlled by him. If the man were no longer married to the woman and if the woman died childless, then the dowry returned back to the father of her family. If the father has already passed away, then the dowry was returned to the woman’s brothers. If the woman had any children that were boys, then the boy, or brothers, would share equally2 (“WOMEN…”). If women wanted out of the marriage, then she would take the dowry with her and go back to her father’s house. The father would then receive the dowry back. Law 138 in the Code of Hammurabi says, “If a man would put away his wife who has not borne him children, he shall give her money to the amount of her marriage settlement and he shall make good to her the dowry which she brought from her father’s house and then he may put her away.”3 (Hammurabi 49). In reality
Domestic violence is a devastating social problem that impacts every sector of our population. Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner(USDOJ,2012). Domestic violence can be physical, economic, emotional, sexual, or psychological. Physical domestic violence is an attempt to impose physical injury such as grabbing, slapping, hitting, biting, etc. Physical violence can also be withholding necessary resources to sustain health such as medication, food, sleep, or forcing alcohol or other drug use. Economic abuse is an attempt to make the victim financially dependent. Such as sustaining control over financial resources including the victims earned income, forbidding employment, on the job harassment, or withholding information about family expenses. Emotional abuse can be the attempt to undermine the victims self worth. This could be belittling the victim, name calling, insults, criticism, manipulating, etc. Sexual abuse is any sexual contact without consent. For example, marital rape, attacks on sexual parts of the body, forced sex, forced prostitution. Sexual abuse can also be an attempt to undermine the victims sexuality by treating them in a derogatory manner, criticizing sexual performance, or withholding sex. Psychological abuse is the attempt to implant fear. This could involve intimidation, threats of physical harm, harassment, mind games, and stalking. Psychological abuse can also be an attempt to isolate victim from friends and family member. Abusers can go so far as withholding access to a telephone, transportation, constant check ups, forced imprisonment, and undermining personal relationships. Dome...
Amanda Hitchcock. 2001. “Rising Number of Dowry Deaths in India.” Annual Editions: Anthropology 11/12, 34th Edition. Elvio Angeloni. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.