Aussie handbook to instruct migrants not to bash wife, harm children
MIGRANTS would be told not to bash their wives or harm their kids in the official Life In Australia handbook as part of a desperate measure to reduce domestic violence.
NSW
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MIGRANTS would be told not to bash their wives or harm their kids in the official Life In Australia handbook as part of a desperate measure to reduce domestic violence.
State Coroner Michael Barnes and a team of NSW domestic violence researchers are behind the idea, which aims to target wife-bashers at the border by telling them that domestic violence is not tolerated in Australia.
Under the recommendations, potential victims would also be taught how to get help and escape abusive relationships.
The Domestic Violence Death Review is likely to be raised at the national meeting of Women’s Safety Ministers later this month.
The recommendation calls for the federal government to either update the booklet given to migrants on arrival, or produce “another publication to be distributed to all persons” coming to live in Australia.
Mr Barnes told The Daily Telegraph all his recommendations had a “strong evidence base” and were “likely to contribute to a safer community”.
He said his team did not have any data to show the problem was more prevalent in non-Western communities than Western communities.
In one sickening case study contained in the review, a man strangled his wife to death after they immigrated from India and later blamed his “culture”.
“He told police he did not know what had come over him but that he was the dominant person in the relationship as was their culture,” the report noted from his court defence.
NSW Domestic Violence Death Review team manager Anna Butler said migrants could be vulnerable because they did not necessarily know what domestic violence was or know Australia’s laws.
“If you have migrants perpetrating and experiencing violence, their vulnerabilities may be exacerbated by their migrant status … the logistics of being a new person in a new country, not having support networks ... not necessarily understanding the laws,” she said.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton is already pushing for new citizenship measures that would test immigrants on “Australian values” to address the issue that migrants might have different values. Labor is blocking the measures.
“Domestic, family or sexual violence is unacceptable in any circumstances,” an immigration department spokeswoman said.
The NSW government is also considering the recommendations closely.