Cairns crime: Indigenous women don’t conform to stereotype of ‘meek’ DV victim, Inquiry hears

Queensland police are ‘dismissive’ of ‘mouthy First Nations women’ who don’t conform to perceptions of how a domestic violence victim should act, an inquiry in Cairns Magistrates Court heard on Tuesday.

POLICE could be dismissive and see the woman as the problem in some domestic and family violence cases, according to North Queensland Women’s Legal Service principal lawyer Hayley Grainger.

Speaking at the Commission of Inquiry to examine Queensland Police Service responses to domestic and family violence hearing in Cairns on Tuesday, Ms Grainger said her organisation had 2,500 women clients last year with 15,000 services provided, and Indigenous women made up 20 to 30 per cent of clients.

Ms Grainger said Indigenous women were over-represented in domestic and family violence matters.

“A lot of police officers tend to be dismissive and more likely to see them as the problem,” Ms Grainger told the hearing.

Cairns Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service principal lawyer Thelma Schwartz gave evidence at the Commission of Inquiry to examine Queensland Police Service responses to domestic and family violence, which sat for two days in Cairns this week.

“Society has a picture of what a domestic violence victim should look like – meek and mild and subdued.

“Often there’s years of trauma and abuse and she’s agitated, she might be swearing, and police assess she might be part of the problem,” Ms Grainger said.

“Often it is someone else who has called the police and she might react badly to police turning up …. mouthy First Nations women.”

Cairns Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service principal legal officer Thelma Schwartz gave examples what she said was “police getting it wrong” or “complete police failure”.

Earlier in the hearing, ‘witness A’, a retiring police officer, gave damning evidence of police perceptions of domestic violence.

She said she heard her colleagues make remarks like ‘domestic violence is just foreplay’ and ‘she’s too ugly to be raped’ and used derogatory language about women.

“Unless survivors conform to the ‘ideal’ victim typology, they do not receive compassionate service and are more likely to be blamed for the offender’s actions,” she said.

A report from the inquiry is due on October 4.

Originally published as Cairns crime: Indigenous women don’t conform to stereotype of ‘meek’ DV victim, Inquiry hears