Lauren Novak: Domestic violence must stay front and centre until the violence stops

IT is time to get a real handle on the extent of domestic violence so it can be eradicated.

“IF we lost someone to a shark every single week, there would be … laws to do something about it.”

So what about the fact we lose one Australian woman a week to the hands of a violent partner or former partner?

The chief of Australia’s Army, David Morrison, put a new spin on an oft-cited statistic this week when he challenged us on White Ribbon Day to get real about violence against women.

Technically there are laws against this kind of abuse. They render actions such as assault, rape and murder illegal. Other laws enable victims to take out orders which are meant to protect them.

However, in South Australia there is no specific offence of “domestic violence”.

An attack by a husband on a wife is recorded the same as any other assault.

This makes it hard to get official figures that accurately reveal the extent of the problem.

Work is under way to create a national database of DV but it is some way off. In the meantime, the State Government should consider creating specific offences for domestic abuse.

The penalties wouldn’t have to be any different to the current assault laws they fall under, but they would be named and recorded for what they are.

This would enable authorities to better quantify the problem.

So far, no one in Government seems particularly taken by the idea — other than, of course, being “open to any suggestions that could better protect victims”. But there are changes afoot.

Status of Women Minister Gail Gago has flagged “tightening” intervention orders, including harsher penalties, and moves to make it harder for abusers to “manipulate” Family Court orders.

In responding to the coronial inquest into the stabbing murder of Zahra Abrahimzadeh by her husband, the Government has also promised legal changes to make it easier for victims to change their names and for courts to impose harsher penalties on repeat DV offenders.

This week we learnt China has drafted its first national law against domestic violence, in a country where abuse has long been a “private matter”.

The new law formally defines domestic violence for the first time and streamlines the process for restraining orders.

In Britain, legislation has been proposed to target perpetrators who control their partners through threats or by restricting their personal or financial freedom.

Laws introduced in South Australia in late 2011 broadened the definition of domestic abuse to include damage to property, emotional or psychological harm or denying a person financial, social or personal independence.

However, there are concerns among advocates that victims are not always reporting this kind of mistreatment and that police and other authorities are so overworked handling the most violent aspects of cases that much of the other abuse goes unpunished.

Those victims who do report abuse face high financial costs to see it through to prosecution.

The army chief, Lieutenant General Morrison, also identified this as one of the key barriers to women breaking free from violence.

Victims have told me of abandoning prosecutions, or settling for custody arrangements they are uncomfortable with, simply because they have run out of money for lawyers.

So law reforms and financial assistance are high on the list of considerations for helping curb family violence.

At the heart of the problem, though, is cultural change.

Easy to say, hard to do.

Premier Jay Weatherill is leading a chorus of men (including Lt Gen Morrison) arguing the solution lies in changing the attitudes of males, who are by far the majority abusers.

Unfortunately, they are often preaching to the converted.

The real challenge lies in reaching men who don’t want to be reached.

More funding needs to be made available for programs which actually change the way violent husbands, boyfriends and fathers think about their behaviour.

Weeks like the one just passed, where we stop to mark White Ribbon Day, help refocus attention on an issue usually kept behind closed doors.

Our task now is to maintain the outrage until the violence is stopped.