Women provoke violence: magistrate By legal affairs editor CINDY WOCKNER 30aug99 http://www.news.com.au/frame_loader.htm?/news_content/4166728.htm A NSW magistrate has claimed women provoke domestic violence through "nagging, bitching and emotionally hurting men". In a report to be released today, the magistrate, who was not named, said: "Men cannot bitch back for hormonal reasons and often have no recourse but violence." Males when angry have trouble expressing themselves and react physically instead of verbally, the magistrate said. "The [these days] widespread notion that men are inarticulate is an urban myth propagated by feminists anger and hurt is what hampers self-expression, not inability to formulate simple sentences." The comments are included in a NSW Judicial Commission survey of magistrates about apprehended violence orders. The 106-page report asked 122 magistrates to respond anonymously on the issue, which occupies an increasing amount of court time across the State. Last year there were 49,611 applications for AVOs in NSW. Sixty-eight magistrates 56 men and 12 women responded to the questionnaire while 54 did not. NSW Minister for Women Faye Lo Po' described the magistrate's nagging comment as "horrifying" and on a pathetic, child-like level. "It would seem from comments like that, that some of the magistracy is just not living in the real world," Mrs Lo Po' said. "I have got to say it horrifies me because there are women who are putting themselves in front of people like that every day seeking protection what hope have they got? A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Jeff Shaw described the magistrate's comment as an "unfortunate view" but said the report indicated it was a minority view, held by one person. The survey also found most magistrates agree that parents used domestic violence orders as a tactic to help their Family Court cases and deprive their partner of access to the children. Some magistrates also believe women were advised by their solicitors to apply for orders. The same magistrate who made the nagging comment, when asked if they thought training adequately prepared magistrates for dealing with domestic and personal violence matters and whether more education was a good idea, replied: "Yes (life experience and practice as a lawyer). Please, no training/propaganda." The magistrate's response that women cause problems by nagging and bitching was given in answer to a question which asked the respondents to what extent they agree or disagree with the following statement as applied to domestic violence matters: "It takes two to tango in any relationship." Fifty-four per cent of the magistrates agreed with the statement and 34 per cent disagreed. A further 12 per cent refused to answer the question, saying it was too much of a generalisation and trivialised domestic violence. The report also found: GENERAL concern that domestic violence orders were too easily obtained; ALL respondents agreed that personal violence orders (such as neighbourhood disputes) were open to abuse and the report recommended legislation be changed to give chamber magistrates and clerks of the court more discretion to refer PVOs to community justice centres; RECOMMENDS increasing the Judicial Commission's education program regarding domestic violence; THE practice of magistrates deferring making final DVOs when Family Court proceedings are pending be examined with a view to more legislative guidelines. Women's Electoral Lobby NSW convenor Sarah Maddison was also angry with the magistrate's view on domestic violence. "It is horrifying to think that someone like that is allowed to make decisions regarding women's safety. I pity the women in a violent relationship who come before that particular magistrate seeking some help. It is seriously frightening," Ms Maddison said. She called for better education of judicial officers and more resources to help women seeking protection. Other magistrate's answers to the question "it takes two to tango" included: "I think in some cases this is true. Some perpetrators are simply using victims as punching bags. Others however, finally snap when outmatched verbally in an argument. Women typically are physically weaker but more articulate then men/boys. Unfortunately, physical violence destroys trust a loss of trust leads to communications further breaking down and the cycle spirals downwards." Another said: "If this means that some victims provoke violence I'm sure its true; equally some don't. It's a dangerous generality." And another: "There is in the majority of cases, blame on both sides." -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
