Blog Archives

Man on parole violently attacks female police officer

30/4/2019

This 22 year old police officer had her eyes gauged, her head bitten and her hair pulled out. She may wear the physical scars, let alone the psychological ones, for life. Her alleged perpetrator was on bail at the time of the attack.

Read the full story here.

Coercive Control - very dangerous and often difficult to spot

29/4/2019

Relationship Abuse is simply and purely about power and control. It is a pattern of behaviour and perpetrators employ many tools and tactics to control their victim. Coercive control is present in almost all circumstances and it is very dangerous, tantamount to brain washing.

While not all Relationship Abuse is violent, violence in relationships never comes out of the blue but is the consequence, if it occurs, of other non-physical abuse. And that's the problem because non-physical abuse can be difficult to spot.
Some behaviours are dressed up as pseudo-caring behaviours with abusers being extremely charming and manipulative. This is what is known as coercive control. Many victims don't even know they are being controlled and, if asked directly, are likely to defend their perpetrator.

What are some of these behaviours. This list is not exhaustive but gives an indication of some of the behaviours to watch out for:

Intimidation & making you fearful including looks, gestures, damaging your belongings, abusing or threatening to abuse your children, family or pets: basically any behaviour that makes you feel like you need to walk on egg shells;
Emotional abuse by putting you down, telling you that you're worthless, calling you names, giving you the silent treatment, ignoring your needs or opinions and generally making you feel bad about yourself;
Controlling you with rules and regulations which are designed to demean, humiliate or degrade you;
Using isolation to prevent you from engaging with your family and friends, by monitoring who you see or where you go, or even from preventing you from working;
Not taking responsibility by making light of abuse, joking about it, blaming you for it or by denying it completely;
Using your child/ren and pets to make you feel guilty, bu threatening to hurt them or take them away from you;

Using 'privilege' to treat you as a servant, by defining your role in the home or in life and expecting you to do the bulk if not all the house work and childcare;
Financial control and abuse including controlling the family's finances, preventing you from looking for or keeping a job, making you ask for money or giving you an allowance;
Using coercion and threats including making or carrying out threats, threatening to leave you or commit suicides;

If you recognise any of these traits in your relationship, please seek support.

If you are in danger, please ring 000
If you need support, please ring 1800RESPECT
Please click here to access a range of support services

World renowned Criminal Behavioural Analyst calls for urgent law reform following the Ristevski sentence

29/4/2019

Laura Richards is a world renowned Criminal Behavioural Analyst. Here is the email she wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions regarding the regarding the killing of Karen Ristevsk and the resulting sentence handed to her husband Borce Ristevski.

Dear Madam/ Sir,

I am writing to you regarding the unduly of Borce Ristevski and asking for the sentence be appealed. What message does this sentence send out to society? All the wrong ones, particularly in light of his behaviour. Furthermore, looking for physical abuse as a sign of domestic abuse is outdated and does not reflect the reality of domestic abuse in all it’s guises. By way of introduction, I am a criminal behavioural analyst who worked at New Scotland Yard for a decade and led on domestic violence risk assessment and homicide prevention. I since founded Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service having successfully campaigned to change the law on stalking and coercive control.

Ristevski killed his wife of 27 years. At no point did he seek medical help or try and help her, which he would have done if it were not an intentional act. Instead he chose to dispose of Karen’s body in bushland, as if he were putting out the rubbish. This is instructive about how her felt about the relationship. He created distance between him and her.

He then lied to their daughter, Sarah, and Karen’s family causing them untold distress. He lied to the police. He continued to lie for almost three years. He carried Karen’s coffin at her funeral causing further distress to her family ,who strongly suspected he had killed Karen. I have sadly analysed hundreds of domestic murders. Coercive control is almost always present. Coercive control correlates significantly with murder. When women try and separate from the abuser, this is the highest risk time. When professionals say there is no history of domestic abuse, they may be looking for physical abuse and miss the psychological, financial and coercively controlling elements which that are far more damaging to the victim.

Behavioural and statistically speaking, it’s highly likely their argument was about separation and Karen trying to leave.

Ristevski played the system, only accepting responsibility to avoid a murder trial. He has shown no remorse and has not revealed how and why he killed his wife. He disposed of her body, her phone, handbag and wallet. These items have never been found – wiping her off the face of the earth. These are all aggravating features and the Judge appears to have placed too much weight on Ristevski’s defence counsel’s plea to not allow the post offence conduct to weigh in regarding sentencing.

However, it should do. He brutally killed a woman. He deprived her family and daughter of being with her. He took Karen’s life so she will never know her grand children and they will never know her. He disposed of her, after 27 years of marriage, like rubbish. That says a lot. He denied her a proper funeral for eight months leaving her body exposed to the elements including animal predation.

Sarah, Karen’s daughter, declined to write a victim impact statement, an impact statement about her mother being brutally killed by her father. Her voice about the impact of her mother’s brutal killing is yet to be heard, despite the fact she was close to her mother. She is no doubt conflicted but this is also instructive. Instead she wrote a glowing reference for her father – a man who lied to her and everyone else. This makes little sense unless it is understood that she too may be under his spell, which talks to his ability to manipulate and control those around him. Coercive control impacts children as well. This should have been a murder charge. However, it was downgraded to manslaughter. This is problematic.

Manslaughter carries a maximum of 20 years. If a one punch offender, Mr Esmail receives 10 years, to serve 10 before he is eligible for parole, how can the brutal killing of Karen carry 9 years, eligible for parole in six? What sort of message does that send out to society about the worth of a woman’s life? What about her standing in the community? What about the message to young boys and girls? On good authority male neighbours of the Ristevski’s are joking that you can kill your wife and serve a few years behind bars – it might be worth it in the long run. Urgent law reform is needed.

This case should warrant an upper range sentence. Respectfully review this case and bear in mind the message it sends out about domestic abuse. Your law and training really does need to catch up and reflect the reality of domestic abuse in all it’s guises. I’d be happy to help.

Yours faithfully,
Laura Richards"
https://www.laurarichards.co.uk/

Headlines like this are offensive

23/4/2019

What DROVE him to kill his wife? Really? It's the victim's fault? Victim blaming - either overtly or covertly - has to stop!!!
It's worth revisiting Our Watch's video first published a month ago at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayUlQQr2qOg&feature=youtu.be

University of Newcastle launches scholarship for domestic violence survivors

23/4/2019

The University of Newcastle has launched a $5000 Scholarship in memory of Helen Maslen, a domestic violence survivor and died in 2018. The Scholarship aims to empower survivors to achieve their educational ambitions and independence.
The UON received "harrowing" applications from 32 women and 2 men most of whom were aged between 18 and 34. The applicants spoke of physical assaults, financial abuse, stalking, intimidation, harassment, threats to kill and constant fear. Many spoke of trying to leave and returning due to emotional blackmail, low self esteem or nowhere to go. Many talked about homelessness, living in refuges or government housing. Others spoke about severe effects on their mental health and seeking help for depression and PTSD and through trauma counselling.

Read more here.

Is it time to introduce mandatory minimum sentencing for family violence deaths?

18/4/2019

There has been a huge public outcry at the perceived weak sentencing of Borce Ristevski for the death of his wife, Karen.
That the Department of Public Prosecution has only just now opened the door for a review of this sentence because of "public outrage", rather than because the sentence handed down appears to be grossly inadequate, speaks volumes.
We already have mandatory minimum penalty of imprisonment with a non-parole period of 10 years for "one punch" deaths [as we should].
A Monash University Department of Forensic Medicine review of 'king hit' fatalities in Australia from 2000 to 2012 identified 90 incidents. Last year alone, 79 Australian women were killed, most by family members.
We support the "one punch" mandatory sentencing and believe that family violence deaths [a far more frequent occurrence] also deserve mandatory sentencing.
Do you agree or not? And if not, why not? We're interested in your opinion.

‘We see it & can’t always help’: Why doctors are campaigning against violence towards women

17/4/2019

Earlier this year, Dr Karen Williams, a psychiatrist from the Wollongong, started the group called Doctors Against Violence Towards Women. Dr Williams specialises in trauma care and sees huge numbers of women who have experienced violence or other forms of abuse and is acutely aware of the gaps we have in the prevention, medical and legal support for these women as well as the longer-term consequences of intimate partner violence.

Read more here.

Uncomfortable advert urges Aussies to call out sexual harassment

17/4/2019

A bold advert from Respect Victoria is condemning the behaviour of men making women feel uncomfortable in public spaces as sexual harassment and encouraging Australians to act if they witness it.

See the video below.
Read the full article here.

Domestic and family violence and affordable home shortage pushes thousands into homelessness

17/4/2019

Domestic and family violence is one of the main reasons women and children become homeless in Australia. More than 121,000 people experiencing domestic violence sought help from specialist homelessness services in 2017-18. Over three out of four people seeking specialist homelessness services due to domestic and family violence related issues were female.

Mission Australia’s latest report Out of the shadows: Domestic and family violence, a leading cause of homelessness in Australia released today calls for urgent action to improve responses to domestic and family violence to prevent people being pushed into homelessness.

Read more here

SPECIALIST WOMEN’S SERVICES TO BE LOCKED OUT OF PROPOSED FAMILY VIOLENCE FUNDING

16/4/2019

Despite being titled ‘Specialised Family Violence Services’, there is no requirement that organisations have specialist expertise in providing domestic and family violence responses, while specialist women’s domestic and family violence organisations are precluded from applying for the invitation-only grant. However, couples counselling and mediation from faith-based mainstream organisations are among its eligible services.

Read more here

Non-physical abuse can be tricky to spot. So how do you tell?

13/4/2019

We all know mates who get into relationships and suddenly our friendship with them takes a backseat – sometimes people focus more energy on the potential loves of their lives (annoying, but accurate). But, what happens if your friend is dating someone abusive? How can you help them? How can you tell? It’s an incredibly complex situation for anyone to be in, as we don’t want to point fingers but we also don’t want to see our mates hurt – ever. So to ease into it, let’s start with acknowledging some signs that your mate might be in an abusive relationship.

Read the full article here.

Fury as Government funds couples counselling for families dealing with domestic violence

9/4/2019

Advocacy groups have slammed the Federal Government decision to fund couples counselling and mediation for families dealing with domestic violence. According to the NSW Director of the Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service, Hayley Foster, it is an ill-informed initiative that could risk more lives.

Read the full story here.

Federal Budget dedicates $7.8 million for child sex offender list

3/4/2019

The Federal Budget has allocated $7.8 million for a “name and shame” list giving us access to a wealth of information about convicted child sex offenders. The public database will be managed by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, with police agencies from each state contributing information.

Read the full article here