Violence Against Women in Australia: Laws, Protections, and Amendments

This report delves into the pervasive issue of violence against women in Australia, examining its various forms, including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and its devastating impact on women's lives. It highlights the historical context of gender inequality and the evolution of legal frameworks designed to protect women. The report analyzes the current legal landscape in Australia, including relevant legislation such as the Domestic and Violence Act, 2007, and the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act, 2007, while also addressing the challenges in reporting and prosecuting these crimes. Furthermore, it explores the causes of domestic violence, including societal attitudes, gender roles, and socio-economic factors, and discusses various strategies and programs implemented in Australia to combat this issue. The report concludes by suggesting potential amendments to existing statutes to better safeguard women's rights and address the ongoing challenges of violence against women in Australia.

Running Head: Violence against women in Australia
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN AUSTRALIA
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Violence against women is a crucial social and physical problem exist in modern society.
This problem is a global phenomenon, and worldwide women are the victim of this problem.
This kind of violence involves a wide range of physical aggression and threat, sexual abuse, and
psychological control, abuse, and assault(Barnett 2017). The various form of violence includes
acts of female abuse includes rape, sexual harassment, domestic violence, intimate partner
violence (IPV), girl child abuse, female feticide and disrespecting and negligence of older
women. Health science researchers have found that cases of sexual violence have been off work
as an influential factor in the development of mental and physical ill-health conditions for a
woman. Research has shown that this violence sometimes continues for the entire lifespan of
women and which makes their life a living hell. The abuse of women is often coming from that
class of the society which poses superior power. The aim of this study is to find out the position
of women in Australia regarding violence and further discuss different laws that protect women
rights and suggest amendment in the existing statute for the interest of women.
In the ancient time, the society used to be male-centric and the decision-maker and rulers
were men at those time. The community at that point of time used to consider women as
‘chattel’. The judicial bodies while constructing and implementing laws and regulations at that
point of time, adopted this view and did not correctly recognise the various form of violence
existed at that point in time (Fiamengo 2018). Modern-day violence against women is only the
modified version of early age violence. The term violence generally refers every kind of brutal
act that may take place in public or private spaces with the intent to cause harm or injury to the
mental or physical peace of body and also includes a threat to cause harm or abuse. The broader
definition of violence and ferocity includes physical as well as mental, sexual, economic and

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psychological forcefulness and includes every kind of frightening, coercing and controlling
behaviour with the intention of causing injury to a woman. In a progressive country like
Australia, the scenario is devastating. Australia women suffer violence and abuse by their near
partner three times more than men in Australia. As per one of the survey report, on average every
week at least one woman in Australia is murdered by her formal or current partner(. 1out of 3
Australian women have experienced physical violence at the age of 15. 1 out of 5 Australian
women has experienced sexual violence at a tender age. 1 in 6 Australian women have suffered
from physical or sexual abuse by a current or former partner. Even 9.4% of women have
experienced sexual violence by a stranger at a tinder age (Benedetto 2017). The report also
saying that 1 out of 4 Australian women has experienced emotional exploitation by a current or
former partner. The data shows that the rate of admission in hospital for abuse-related injury
happens four times more to women than men do. Even 68% of Australian mothers have
complained about domestic violence cases by their partner that happened in front of their
children. Domestic violence is considered a serious concern that affects t millions of population
in Australia. The most pervasive character of violence which is witnessed by women in the
country of Australia is the violence that is committed by an intimate male partner which is
referred to as domestic violence. Furthermore, it is necessary to recognize that intimate male
partner and partners of same-sex are witnessing this nature of violence (Fiamengo 2018). The
cause for the occurrence of violence is complicated with the consequence that there are major
dealings of misinformation and confusion that are revealed in public debating. Nevertheless, the
general agreement concerning poor imbalances, gender inequality controlling behaviours among
relationships considers as the chief determining factor (Benedetto 2017). The attitudes of the
community to sexuality, gender roles, sexual assault and domestic violence strength influence

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reporting rates and prevalence of violence against women. The languages that apply in the
context of domestic violence minimize or trivialize the severity of violence experienced (Cox
2015). It is evident from the surveys that demographic factors that contribute to the offence of
domestic violence are country of birth, age, the socio-economic standard which a restricted
influence among attitudes however low rate of support regarding gender equality is toughest
analysts for holding attitudes for supporting violence. The causes for incidents concerning
domestic violence which are non-reporting are complicated but involve perpetrator's fear, fear of
not blamed or believed, feelings regarding embarrassment and shame, physiological fear that
relives the incident or reluctance in recognising the incidents that have already occurred. The
wide range of strategies has been adopted to deal with the concern of domestic violence in the
country of Australia and worldwide. The international review of the World Health Organization
on the prevailing violence committed by inmate partners marks variation globally is not
unavoidable and can be reduced or prevented. The initiative adopted by the council of
government in Australia is designated to resolve the issue of domestic violence in the programme
of the national plan for the reduction of corruption that is committed against women and also to
the children of them. The national plan adopted by the Council of Australian Government has
obtained positivity from many commentators and stakeholders however it is argued as integrated
resourcing ongoing and funding in all jurisdiction is important for impacting long term
development. In the national plan which is structured for the prevention or reduction of violence
against children and women from the year 2010-2022, the Australian’s government council
aimed family, domestic and sexual violence. Domestic violence indicates the conduct of violence
between two individuals who are engaged in an intimate relationship. The violence of this
category comprising sexual, physical, emotional, financial or psychological corruption. Family

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violence is a broader concept which indicates violence committed within families along with that
to inmate partners. This category of violence is witnessed by the indigenous community as it
involves the broader scope of kinship and marital relationship. Sexual violence is the activity
which is of sexual nature that is committed against the individual by application of intimidation,
physical force or coercion.thefe are numerous reason which is accountable for the low rate of
reporting regarding the offence of domestic violence.the strategies that can be adapted to deal
with the issue of domestic violence involves the following. Firstly the program of primary
prevention which focuses on the approach of public health for prevention of domestic violence
that classifies the strategy of preventative into secondary, primary and tertiary strategies though
the demarcation in between the margins is not clear cut. The strategy of primary prevention
intends to make prevention of domestic violence and secondary prevention concentrates on
population whoa are at risk and prevention of tertiary factors that target to prevent rehappening
of domestic violence. Primary prevention covers a wide series of approaches that are applied as a
tool for the development of comprehending strategies of prevention relating to sexual violence.
This comprises of strengthening the skill and knowledge of individuals, promoting the education
of the community, changing the practices of organisation in addition to that influencing
legislation and practices. The attitudes of the high-rank community regarding the operation of the
campaign in Australia aims domestic violence is a campaign of White Ribbon. The conducts that
constitute an act of domestic violence encompasses variable grade of severity of crime which
involves sexual abuse, physical violence, property damage social abuse, emotional abuse
physiological abuse, spiritual abuse and economic abuse. Thus whatsoever in the form of
domestic violence, the central characteristic involves individuals who implement power and
control buy induction of fear for instance, by application of threatening behaviour. The

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terminology of domestic violence recognised usually the actions that constitute numerous
incidents. The concept of domestic violence that are applied in statutes of family and domestic
violence across the jurisdiction of Australia are not even there lies confusion and overlap in
between the legislation of federal or state that could be followed by the decision-makers. The
legislation that deals with the offence of domestic violence are Domestic and Violence Act,
2007, Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act, 2007, Family Violence Act, 2004 and
Restraining Orders act, 1997. There are several federal crimes within the Criminal Code Act,
1995 of the commonwealth which raises to protection order in perspective of domestic
corruption. For instance, harassment or threatening behaviour can create the basis of the order of
protection within the scope of federal crimes relating to the application of carriage services. The
linkage and interruption in between family or domestic violence statutes in addition to that
criminal legislation were regarded by the report of ALRC in domestic violence in the year 2010.
The perpetrator of the crime is subjected to the order of protection or criminal prosecution. The
report of ALRC pointed out that federal crimes that are committed in the context of domestic
violence should be recognised widely amongst prosecutors, police, judiciary and lawyers.
According to the report of ALRC, the police play a significant role in addressing the issue of
domestic violence. police authority is accountable for recording events, interview to victims and
collection of evidence that is applied for an order of protection in civil structure. The adversarial
system of judiciary indicates that a person is presumed to be innocent unless the guilt is proved
beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus there is a requirement for affording procedural protection to the
women who are the victimisation of domestic violence. the Australian government recognised
the severity of the issue and also make clear that family, domestic or sexual violence is
unacceptable in any situation.

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The adversarial structure of the criminal justice system establishes that the proceeding of
the court must put endeavour to succeed within the ambit of legislation and rules. The debate in
between the defence and prosecutions expose in the attendance of judge acting as moderator of
criminal proceedings and ensures that party to the proceedings follows the regulations and judge
listen to access and delivers judgment. The government in Australia is accountable for
overarching programs of government that are designed to eliminate offence of domestic
violence. the sponsor's state of commonwealth and cooperation of territory government in the
implementation and development of structures for preventing and addressing domestic violence.
Nevertheless, the territory and state government have the responsibility of enforcement of
legislation relating to prosecuting and policing concerning domestic violence. the programs of
the Australian government which operates in the territory and states, each jurisdiction administer
services and programs that aimed in the prevention of domestic violence in addition to that aid
those who are hampered by through the service of the community or human services together
with law enforcement agencies. Intergovernmental liaison concerning violence committed
against women is organized through the select council of the Australian government on issues
faced by the women.

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References
Barnett, A., 2017. Family law without lawyers–A systems theory perspective. Journal of Social
Welfare and Family Law, 39(2), pp.223-245.
Benedetto, G., 2017. Refugee women are (not) welcome. Critical analysis and possible solutions
to gender-based human rights violation in refugee camps with a case study on the impact of the
EU-Turkey agreement on women and girls’ rights (Bachelor's thesis, Università Ca'Foscari
Venezia).
Cox, P., 2015. Violence against women in Australia: Additional analysis of the Australian
Bureau of Statistics' Personal Safety Survey, 2012. ANROWS.
Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act, 2007
Criminal Code Act, 1995
Domestic and Violence Act, 2007
Family Violence Act, 2004
Fiamengo, J., 2018. BEING MALE IN A FEMINIST CULTURE. New Male Studies, 7(1).

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Johnson, H., Fisher, B.S. and Jaquier, V., Critical Issues on Violence Against Women.
Nayak, M., 2015. Who is worthy of protection?: gender-based asylum and US immigration
politics. Oxford University Press.
Restraining Orders act, 1997