Children are the forgotten victims
Sat 05 June 2010
Brooke Potter, Bachelor of Journalism
Domestic violence has increased on the Sunshine Coast, highlighting the lack of provision for children and prompting a review of current laws.
The Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research (CDFVR) showed an increase of reported domestic violence from 8, 887 new cases in the quarter from October, 2008 to March, 2009, to 10, 284 new cases for the quarter January, 2010, to March, 2010.
Centacare regional manager Di Swan said those statistics are also reflected on the Sunshine Coast.
“Counselling numbers have seen an increase, with 482 individuals receiving counselling in the last quarter, January to March, compared to 310 in the quarter October to December,” she said.
“Our court support services to aggrieved [victims] have increased in this quarter alone where 350 individuals were provided information, support and referral.
“Our court support services to respondents...have also increased.
“We provided services to 392 respondents in the first six months of this financial year compared to a projected 480 respondents for the entire year.”
Ms Swan said Centacare responds to referrals from Queensland police when they are called out to a home to complete a risk assessment, safety planning and provide information and services, including refuge, with the victim’s consent.
“This service has increased from eight in 2003, when the service commenced with Queensland Police, to 800 in the last calendar year,” Ms Swan said.
“These numbers only represent those people who have given consent to be contacted.
“Najidah, who provide a shelter for women escaping domestic and family violence, have seen an increase of 16 per cent in the numbers of bed nights provided to women, an increase of 19 per cent in the numbers of bed nights provided to children and an increase of 16 per cent in the total number of accommodation to clients in their service.”
The Queensland Government Department of Communities is conducting a review of the Domestic and Family Violence Act 1989, with service providers calling for a stronger focus on perpetrators and provision for children.
The CDFVR statistics showed 8, 035 of the 10, 284 new domestic violence cases involved families with children.
Relationships Australia victims of crime councillor Francoise Jewell said many parents do not believe the children are aware of domestic violence, and the courts do not help the situation either.
“My concerns are that they [laws in the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989] do not adequately protect children in their current format,” Mr Jewell said.
“Child witnesses of domestic violence are in need of protection.
“The consequences for the children are quite devastating.”
SunnyKids CEO Chris Turner said that it is time to modify the laws by learning from the areas which have not proved to be strong enough in the past.
“Many people are calling for a stronger focus on those that perpetrate domestic violence,” Mr Turner said.
“This includes strengthening laws to have perpetrators of violence removed from the family home, rather than seeing women and children go into refuge.
“SunnyKids would support this, as long as there were stringent risk assessment protocols also put into place.”
Mr Turner said children in domestic violence are significantly under-served, and the Queensland legislation does not protect children from domestic violence.
“Outside of the legislative questions, such as whether the Domestic Violence Act should include children ... we need to look at how we are responding to children and supporting children who are victims of domestic violence regardless of whether they are included in The Act,” Mr Turner said.
“Because the bottom line is, they are not being supported adequately.”
Mr Turner said that while the question of whether to include children in the Domestic Violence Act is a welcome debate, bigger values based questions need to be asked.
“Do we as a society value a non-violent community enough to give our Governments the mandate they need in order to increase funding for responses to domestic violence to a level at which a genuine service system...can be seriously considered?” Mr Turner said.
“At the end of the day, no matter what the laws are, you can’t legislate morality or values.
“These are things societies choose, and at this stage we are yet to choose to genuinely fund a response to domestic violence in Queensland.
“We are valuing non-violence more, and we have made a lot of progress – but we are yet to value it enough to invest the necessary funds to address current levels of violence or prevent future occurrences.”
Image(s) designed by Brooke Potter