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Articles on Family violence

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Many behaviours associated with coercive control are not yet criminal in Australia, even though the impact on victims is profound. Shutterstock

It’s time ‘coercive control’ was made illegal in Australia

New laws in the UK have led to convictions for a range of deplorable behaviours used to control partners in relationships. It’s time Australia reconsidered introducing such legislation here.
Religious beliefs about hierarchical gender roles can influence attitudes towards family and domestic violence. Shutterstock

New study finds family violence is often poorly understood in faith communities

Women experiencing family and domestic violence within faith communities can face attitudes and practices that encourage them to stay in relationships with their abusers.
Some men don’t realise their abusive behaviour constitutes domestic violence. This needs to change. Africa Studio/Shutterstock

How can we make families safer? Get men to change their violent behaviour

What’s often missing from domestic violence responses are investments and strategies to stop men perpetrating violence in the first place.
Coercive control is a form of domestic violence based on a subtle but persistent form of emotional and psychological abuse. from shutterstock.com

Why Sally Challen’s appeal is not a win for women victims of coercive control

Advocates say the recent quashing of Sally Challen’s murder conviction brought attention to a hidden feature of domestic violence. But it may have also painted Challen as an unstable woman.
The Sharks’ Ben Barba (centre) was sacked by his club after allegations he assaulted his partner. AAP/Dan Himbrechts

Rugby league may finally have reached its tipping point on player behaviour and violence

NRL’s culture was once one of hyper-masculinity, but it has failed to change wth societal mores – it now finds itself out of step and in need of reform.
The Hague Convention on child abduction was drafted to deal with fathers abducting their children across borders after losing custody, but it’s applied mainly to mothers fleeing domestic violence. from shutterstock.com

Fleeing family violence to another country and taking your child is not ‘abduction’, but that’s how the law sees it

Under international law, a mother escaping domestic violence with her children to another country is seen as an abductor. She is often ordered to return the child leading to catastrophic consequences.
A Victorian parliamentary committee has recommended that all serious police misconduct be investigated by a new independent police misconduct and corruption division within the IBAC. AAP/Tracey Nearmy

New body for complaints against police in Victoria is a good move, with some caveats

A complaints system in which police investigate themselves is hardly likely to instil confidence in communities where police are regarded as the problem rather than the solution.
In refusing to strike out Smith’s claim, the court has accepted that it is arguable police could owe a common law duty of care to specific victims of domestic violence to protect them from preventable harm. AAP/James Ross

Court opens door to domestic violence victim to sue police for negligence

A Victorian woman claims police were negligent in failing to prevent breaches of protection orders against her ex-partner – a case that may open up new legal avenues in domestic violence cases.
Joy Rowley’s 2011 murder has raised the question of whether a stand-alone offence of non-fatal strangulation would prevent the escalation of family violence. Supplied: Domestic Violence Victoria

Victorian government should be wary of introducing a stand-alone offence of non-fatal strangulation

A stand-alone offence of non-fatal strangulation would be difficult to prove and detract from the ways in which family violence victims are being failed in other policy areas.
Police at the scene in Ellenbrook, Western Australia, where the bodies of a mother and her two children were found. Her 19-year-old son has since been charged with their murder. AAP/Bohdan Warchomij

Explainer: what is parricide and how common is it in Australia?

The murder of a parent by their child, known as parricide, is a relatively uncommon form of family violence. We need to know much more about it to better understand and prevent it.
Access to a steady income can mitigate the effects of violence and provide avenues out of abuse. AAP

Why family violence leave should be paid

Providing paid family violence leave means we’re not asking victims to choose between accessing necessary support and financial security.
Many lone-actor attacks, including the 2014 Sydney siege, are carried out by perpetrators with a history of violence against women. Dean Lewis/AAP

We won’t stop lone-actor attacks until we understand violence against women

The Victorian government’s new centre to prevent terrorist and lone actor attacks needs to fully understand the links between these types of attacks and violence against women.

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