{"id":32319,"date":"2022-06-01T01:48:30","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T01:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/?p=32319"},"modified":"2022-06-01T01:48:30","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T01:48:30","slug":"submissions-to-womens-safety-and-justice-taskforce-reveal-systemic-and-community-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2022\/06\/01\/submissions-to-womens-safety-and-justice-taskforce-reveal-systemic-and-community-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"Submissions to Women&#8217;s Safety and Justice Taskforce reveal systemic and community failure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">Submissions to the Women&#8217;s Safety and Justice Taskforce have revealed a system and community that is failing abused women.<\/p>\n<div class=\"_3qLh5 _sBMB _1ilWc\">\n<section class=\"_3xJds _3tgJi\" role=\"contentinfo\" aria-label=\"key points\" data-component=\"KeyPoints\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/teaser\/101116294\">\n<h2 class=\"_1EAJU hMmqO _316gH _1zBDU _1BqKa _2AH39 _3HiTE x9R1x pDrMR hmFfs _390V1\" data-component=\"Heading\">Key points:<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"qkR3W\" data-component=\"List\" role=\"list\">\n<li class=\"\" data-component=\"ListItem\"><span class=\"_1yaJg _1VtHm\"\/>The taskforce put a call out for submissions in February<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-component=\"ListItem\"><span class=\"_1yaJg _1VtHm\"\/>Submissions will form part of a report and recommendations on how to improve\u00a0the system due this month<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-component=\"ListItem\"><span class=\"_1yaJg _1VtHm\"\/>Victims said in their submissions that they were discouraged from taking matters further<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">As a result, most sexual assault cases are never reported, and of those that are, it is rare that charges result in a conviction, the taskforce said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">It has received 304 submissions from victims, accused persons,\u00a0offenders, support organisations, academics and government agencies, after publishing a discussion paper in February.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">Of those, 59 were from support and advocacy organisations, legal stakeholders, academics and government agencies, 122 were from people with lived experience of sexual assault, or as accused persons or offenders, and 125 were general submissions from people with lived experience of sexual violence.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"_3qLh5 _sBMB _1ilWc _21naB\" data-component=\"LegacyWysiwyg\" data-print=\"inline-media\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/teaser\/100054248\" title=\"Teaser - DV helplines\">\n<h2 class=\"_1EAJU hMmqO _316gH _1zBDU _1BqKa _2AH39 _3HiTE x9R1x pDrMR hmFfs _390V1\" data-component=\"Heading\">Family and domestic violence support services:<\/h2>\n<\/aside>\n<h2 class=\"_1EAJU hMmqO SYcM3 zwVFG _1BqKa _3AExf _3HiTE x9R1x pDrMR hmFfs _390V1\" data-component=\"Heading\">People think &#8216;you&#8217;ve made it up&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">One woman said in her submission that support for victims was &#8220;lacklustre&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">&#8220;There is not enough support for survivors. There never has been and never will be,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"_3qLh5 _sBMB _3fob9\" data-component=\"Pullquote\">\n<blockquote class=\"_1BTTn\">\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">&#8220;Women are scared to report an assault because they know they will be questioned \u2014 and not just treated as a victim.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/aside>\n<figure class=\"_247xw _3qLh5 _sBMB _3pBTa\" role=\"group\" data-print=\"inline-media\" aria-labelledby=\"101116278\" data-component=\"Figure\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/101116278\">\n<div class=\"_3poXF\" data-component=\"IntersectionObserver\">\n<div class=\"_1Axyg\" style=\"--aspect-ratio:1.5\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A policeman knocks on a front door while his partner checks a clipboard\" class=\"jMqWO _1PHKk\" data-component=\"Image\" data-nojs=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/2a19a923f96effce6796dc0b6352a5ab?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=1115&amp;cropW=1680&amp;xPos=222&amp;yPos=222&amp;width=862&amp;height=575\" data-sizes=\"100vw\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A policeman knocks on a front door while his partner checks a clipboard\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/2a19a923f96effce6796dc0b6352a5ab?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=1115&amp;cropW=1680&amp;xPos=222&amp;yPos=222&amp;width=862&amp;height=575\" class=\"jMqWO _1PHKk\" sizes=\"100vw\" data-component=\"Image\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"_1EAJU _2_dbS _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" id=\"101116278\" data-component=\"Figure__figcaption\"> <!-- -->Ms McMurdo said most people don&#8217;t report sexual violence.<cite class=\"_1EAJU _1ftZy _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Figure__cite\">(<span class=\"_1EAJU _1s6pr _2L258 _1BqKa _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Byline\"><span class=\"_1EAJU _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Text\"><span>AAP: Dan Peled<\/span><\/span><\/span>)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">She said the current system forces women to relive the trauma of their past.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">&#8220;I wish to live in a world where women could report sexual assaults without fear \u2014 fear of judgement, fear of people thinking they &#8216;made it up&#8217;, fear of people siding with the perpetrator, fear of all the accusations of &#8216;exaggeration, false reporting, etc&#8217;,&#8221; she said in her submission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">&#8220;Most of all, the trauma that goes with going to trial and the horrific [experience] of having to go through reliving it all as you are required to tell your story over [again] to the courts to be judged and ridiculed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"_1EAJU hMmqO SYcM3 zwVFG _1BqKa _3AExf _3HiTE x9R1x pDrMR hmFfs _390V1\" data-component=\"Heading\">&#8216;Openly doubted my story&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">Another woman said she was turned away after suffering an assault at age 15.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">&#8220;That first point of contact needs to be revised \u2026 [it should be] someone trained in sexual assault,&#8221; she said in her submission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">She said she was discouraged from giving a statement at a police station.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">&#8220;I was shown through a fellow victim&#8217;s interview window and explained how hard the process was and that it often wasn&#8217;t worth it,&#8221; she wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">&#8220;I never had my day in court to represent myself. I wish I had the correct support at the station and encouragement to move forward.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">One woman said that after being sexually assaulted by two men, male police officers had openly doubted her story, telling her she &#8220;wasn&#8217;t the kind of woman who gets assaulted&#8221;.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"_3qLh5 _sBMB _3fob9\" data-component=\"Pullquote\">\n<blockquote class=\"_1BTTn\">\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">&#8220;Every time I hear in the news or social media of people asking &#8216;why didn&#8217;t you report it to the police?&#8217;, my anger is palpable: I TRIED, &#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/aside>\n<figure class=\"_247xw _3qLh5 _sBMB _3pBTa\" role=\"group\" data-print=\"inline-media\" aria-labelledby=\"101116380\" data-component=\"Figure\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/101116380\">\n<div class=\"_3poXF\" data-component=\"IntersectionObserver\">\n<div class=\"_1Axyg\" style=\"--aspect-ratio:1.5\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Justice Margaret McMurdo speaking at the Law Society in Brisbane.\" class=\"jMqWO _1PHKk\" data-component=\"Image\" data-nojs=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/f40bea446baa469808f49f66df3df3c6?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=994&amp;cropW=1495&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=0&amp;width=862&amp;height=575\" data-sizes=\"100vw\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Justice Margaret McMurdo speaking at the Law Society in Brisbane.\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/f40bea446baa469808f49f66df3df3c6?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=994&amp;cropW=1495&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=0&amp;width=862&amp;height=575\" class=\"jMqWO _1PHKk\" sizes=\"100vw\" data-component=\"Image\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"_1EAJU _2_dbS _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" id=\"101116380\" data-component=\"Figure__figcaption\"> <!-- -->Justice Margaret McMurdo said the taskforce would make recommendations by the end of the month.<cite class=\"_1EAJU _1ftZy _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Figure__cite\">(<span class=\"_1EAJU _1s6pr _2L258 _1BqKa _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Byline\"><span class=\"_1EAJU _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Text\"><span>ABC News: Marc Smith<\/span><\/span><\/span>)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">Former Court of Appeal president Margaret\u00a0McMurdo,\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" class=\"u0kBv _3CtDL _1_pW8 _3Fvo9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2021-02-17\/hannah-clarke-domestic-violence-laws-coercive-control-taskforce\/13162226\" data-component=\"ContentLink\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/13162226\" rel=\"noopener\">who heads the taskforce<\/a>, said there are roadblocks at every turn to successful outcomes for sexual assault victims.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">&#8220;Most don&#8217;t report what has happened and for the brave few who do, they often feel they are not taken seriously or treated as if they are the suspect and blamed and disbelieved,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">&#8220;For far too many, the criminal justice process is slow, confusing and re-traumatising \u2013 many victims\u00a0find it too much and give up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"_1EAJU hMmqO SYcM3 zwVFG _1BqKa _3AExf _3HiTE x9R1x pDrMR hmFfs _390V1\" data-component=\"Heading\">Most women in custody have suffered abuse<\/h2>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">The taskforce said it found women and girls who are charged with criminal offences are almost all victims of domestic and family, sexual or other physical violence \u2013 or in many cases all three.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">Many feel that their experiences of abuse and trauma are not taken into account by the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"_3qLh5 _sBMB _3fob9\" data-component=\"Pullquote\">\n<blockquote class=\"_1BTTn\">\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">&#8220;We are hearing that almost all women and girls in custody are victims of physical, sexual and domestic and family violence,&#8221; Ms McMurdo said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">&#8220;Addressing this issue may help stop women and girls offending in the first place and prevent reoffending.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside class=\"_3qLh5 _sBMB _1ilWc cj-aC\" data-component=\"RelatedCard\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/teaser\/12852708\"\/>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">Once in the prison system, the taskforce found women lack the support to break the cycle of offending, and the assistance to deal with their own trauma from violence and abuse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">The taskforce is currently considering the submissions and preparing a report for the Queensland government. General submissions remain open.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1HzXw\">The taskforce is due to report on the submissions and make recommendations by the end of the month.<\/p>\n<p><span data-component=\"Loading\" data-print=\"inline-media\" class=\"_2HNHj xWXwh\"><span class=\"_2PKny z4HFy _3ABid\"\/><span class=\"_3g6yj\" role=\"alert\" aria-live=\"assertive\">Loading<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"_1EAJU _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Text\">Posted<!-- -->\u00a0<\/span><time class=\"_1EAJU _1NECW _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Timestamp\" aria-hidden=\"true\" datetime=\"2022-06-01T01:37:38.000Z\">10m ago<\/time><time class=\"_76TfH\" data-component=\"ScreenReaderOnly\" datetime=\"2022-06-01T01:37:38.000Z\">10 minutes ago<\/time><time class=\"_1EAJU _30fPZ _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Text\">Wed 1 Jun 2022 at 1:37am<\/time>, <span class=\"_1EAJU _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Text\">updated<!-- -->\u00a0<\/span><time class=\"_1EAJU _1NECW _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Timestamp\" aria-hidden=\"true\" datetime=\"2022-06-01T01:42:09.000Z\">5m ago<\/time><time class=\"_76TfH\" data-component=\"ScreenReaderOnly\" datetime=\"2022-06-01T01:42:09.000Z\">5 minutes ago<\/time><time class=\"_1EAJU _30fPZ _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Text\">Wed 1 Jun 2022 at 1:42am<\/time><\/p>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2022-06-01\/sexual-assault-womens-safety-justice-taskforce-mcmurdo\/101115900\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Submissions to the Women&#8217;s Safety and Justice Taskforce have revealed a system and community&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-cj-system"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32321,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32319\/revisions\/32321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}