Attorney-General Vickie Chapman says authorities must address family violence impact on children
ATTORNEY-General Vickie Chapman has identified the impact on children who witness family violence – even if they are not directly attacked – as “perhaps the biggest area of reform” authorities must next address.
ATTORNEY-General Vickie Chapman has identified the impact on children who witness family violence – even if they are not directly attacked – as “perhaps the biggest area of reform” authorities must next address.
In the same way that society accepts the dangers of passive smoking, Ms Chapman wants to address the devastating impact of “passive domestic violence” on kids living in abusive households.
“Children are repeatedly witnessing the horror in relation to abuse of one of their parents by another, but also living with the scars of that,” she said. “Perhaps the biggest area of reform we’re yet to look at is how we ensure we protect children who witness, but not necessarily be the direct victims (of domestic violence).
“We’ve dealt with passive smoking, we’re now going to deal with passive domestic violence.”
Women’s Safety Services SA supports more than 2000 children each year who are exposed to violence and threats of harm.
WSSSA director of services Ginny Cisneros said evidence confirmed that “children are harmed by domestic violence, even if they themselves aren’t the primary target”.
“The effect on children of being a witness to violence against their parent, from another (parent), can seriously disrupt a child’s future wellbeing,” she said.
“It can lead to consequences such as behavioural, developmental and cognitive impairment, to say nothing of the effect it has on the mother-child bond and future relationships.”
Opposition justice spokesman Kyam Maher said Labor was “open to any practical measure” which would address the “scourge of domestic violence”.
Ms Chapman said she had asked Human Services Minister Michelle Lensink and Assistant Minister for Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Carolyn Habib to consider passive family violence “the next tranche of reform that we need to look at”.
Her comments come as the State Government commits almost $1 million to research that examines the best ways to intervene earlier with at-risk families. The money has been allocated over two years to a research unit set up on the recommendation of the Nyland Royal Commission.
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