Intimate Partner Violence: Transforming Harm into a Crime
AbstractIn this article the authors critique the failure of the criminal response to domestic violence in Queensland. They draw on interviews with domestic violence workers to inform a discussion of the role of the criminal law in domestic violence matters and to make suggestions for how the criminal law may be used more effectively. The authors claim that criminal law should be a practical option in the community's response to domestic violence working in conjunction with the civil law reform. The authors find that the legislation is adequate. However the circle of 'naming, blaming and claiming' as a holistic approach needs to be understood in more detail before we can begin to develop the attitudinal and procedural shifts that are required to effectively respond to violence between intimate partners. They conclude by saying that domestic violence workers have some valuable suggestions on how the criminal law response to domestic violence can be improved. |