Information Bulletin - March 2003: Volume 7, Issue 1

Little feet take big steps
New schools program developed in Grafton
Practice and Prevention - Conference Report
Dubbo pilots integrated response to domestic violence
Resources and Research
Conferences and Events
Funding for Local Domestic Violence Committees
Thanks to Tricia Forbes
Two new Regional Violence Prevention Specialists
Stop Domestic Violence Day 2003

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• A research portfolio which outlines the methodology of the project and details the identified issues, including a specific response to Aboriginal issues;
• A teaching resource;
• A national audit covering prevention programs that have been developed and/or implemented with young people in Australia to address violence within relationships.

Madame Claire L'Heureux Dubé, a retired Supreme Court Jude from Canada, discussed legal issues in relation to sexual assault based on her experience in Canada and USA. She said that women are re-victimised by the legal system when they report sexual assault. She talked about how myths and stereotypes affect women's experiences in the legal system, and said that we need to recognise, debunk, expose and challenge corroboration, rules of evidence and consent as these forms of legal processes reinforce myths and stereotypes. She stressed that equality and access to justice is more than just access to courts. She recommended that the criminal justice system must balance the needs of victims with the accused, there must be equality through the rules of credibility and using human rights principles.
Bronwyn Pithey, from the Sexual Offences and community Affairs Unit, National Directorate of Public Prosecutions, South Africa, spoke about the legal and support systems for victims of sexual assault in South Africa. The system in South Africa involves specialist courts with trained judicial officers and prosecution led investigations - victims are involved in the process and are consulted and informed. Supporting victims is paramount, when women first report to the police, they are taken to a Support Centre where counseling and medical assistance takes place before police statements are taken. There is thorough consultation with women who are informed of the processes involved. She also said that South Africa is presently exploring the feasibility of the sex offences courts.
Julie Stubbs, Deputy Director of the Institute of Criminology, University of Sydney spoke about sexual assault in NSW. She said that sentencing is a blunt instrument, and that heavier sentencing does not address the systemic problems such as the way the justice system treats victims/survivors. Sentencing in cases such as the recent high profile ‘gang rape’ cases, will not deter offenders nor will it increase reporting as the cases are so unique that offenders and victims will not identify with it. Although there have been 'law reforms', the conviction rates have remained low, and while minimum standards of sentencing may reduce guilty pleas, they will increase plea-bargaining, will impact on juries and discourage a finding of guilt. She suggested that the criminal justice system and law reform should not focus solely on sentencing.
Pam Greer discussed the fact that Aboriginal women's experiences have not been improved, despite the publication of a number of reports on the issue. She said that that there has been a decrease in funding for sexual assault in Aboriginal communities since the 80’s, and argued that more action was needed to implement recommendations to really make a difference for Aboriginal women.
Paula Abood spoke about how the recent medias ethnicising sexual assault maintains race as the key issues in sexual assault, which reduces the focus on the gendered nature of sexual assault. She discussed how gender and race cannot be separated and that the issue of sexual assault has been put on the political agenda in recent months, but asked at what costs?
Jenny Morgan, Associate Professor, University of Melbourne, discussed whether 'restorative justice' is useful to sexual assault survivors. She asked is there a way to use restorative justice for 'less serious' offences. She recommended that a panel of feminist adjudicators should explore the Canadian model as a non-criminal option, which is not designed as a substitute for the criminal process.
Justice James Wood, Chief Judge of Common Law NSW Supreme Court, spoke about the evidence and court procedure in the NSW legal system. Issues he identified included the fact that the legal jargon is difficult for juries to comprehend, the difficulty in the admission of evidence in sexual assault matters, the subjective nature of the test and consent, and the difficulty of balancing the needs of complainants and an open court. He also made a series of recommendations regarding procedures in courts.

A presentation by Professor Mary Harvey, Harvard University on the psychological aftermath of sexual violence. Professor Harvey talked about the importance of advocacy as well as client service providers in working with victims of sexual assault.
Detective Sergeant David Perry, Toronto Police, Sex Crimes Unit, spoke about setting up the Sexual Assault Squad. The Squad has an intelligence led policy, and involves consultation with key stakeholders, use of national DNA database, building of evidence of multiple offences, case management, information sharing, multi-jurisdictional case management and investigations, systems to analyse behaviour and match to other cases, and specialised training prioritising victim sensitivity. Detective Sergeant Perry recommended that DNA databases are important to track down offenders, keep cold cases active, and in connecting cases by same offenders. He referred to the Campbell report which included co-ordinated responses across all policing jurisdictions, a standardised case management system, a regional serial and predator crime unit, interdisciplinary support from forensic scientists and other specialists, training and equipment, and development of multi-jurisdictional major case management system, VCLAS (Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System). He suggested that preventative measures be based on offender behaviour and crime patterns, through the use of pre-sexual assault indicators. He emphasised that it's important to treat 'perverts' more seriously, and use equal resources to prevent an attack as would be used to respond to an attack.
Julie Savage from STARTTS spoke about issues for refugee women. She said that sexual assault can be systemic, there is clear evidence that sexual assault is used as a weapon of war; there are connections with cultural and religious imperatives, links with suicide; the current political climate puts more women at risk directly and indirectly.
Sandra Hoot from WAMH spoke about sexual assault and mental health issues. She said there are many questions not asked by professionals, women with mental health problems are often not taken seriously, there is a slowness of doctors to respond to information and poor diagnosis. She recommended that doctors be targeted re training/information on mental illness and sexual assault and that better links should be made between sexual assault services and
mental health services.
Julie Blythe from Northern Sydney Sexual Assault Service, spoke about issues for women with disabilities. She reported that service providers are the most common perpetrators of sexual assault against women with disabilities, there is a low rate of reporting and 75% of offenders still relate to or work with their victims. She stressed that there is a real need to identify and deal with perpetrators in disability services.
Katherine Clarke spoke in place of Mareese Terare from the Education Centre Against Violence (ECAV). She spoke about issues for Aboriginal communities. She said there is a need for accessible service, empowerment, a need for transparency in what the community is being offered and for access to resources and dealing with burn out of service providers. See the VAW website for afternoon sessions.

Cleonie Quayle, course coordinator National Indigenous legal studies, Tranby College. Cleonie raised concerns regarding preventing sexual assault in Aboriginal communities, in particular the impact of the stolen generations and colonization on Aboriginal communities.
Dr Moira Carmody then spoke about sexual assault prevention campaigns, and proposed a new approach to sexual assault prevention, based on a sex and ethics approach.
Dr Michael Flood spoke about working with men to challenge violence against women, challenging masculinities and men as the target audiences of education campaigns, involving men in eliminating violence against women.
Jane Mulroney a researcher at the Australian and Domestic Violence Clearinghouse, then canvassed prevention programmes with young people, her research found that pre-adolescence is the best time to intervene, and while young people can identify domestic violence and sexual assault they have more difficult identifying "what is a healthy relationship"
Therese McCarthy, a Health and Women's Services Consultant then spoke, she asked a series of questions about the relationship between government funding and women activists.
Bronwyn Pithey, from the Sexual Offences and Community Affairs Unit, National Directorate of Public Prosecutions in South Africa, stated that non-government organisations accurately reflect women's voices, that we should be looking at engaging men in this work, and challenging our own views and practices around what is culturally acceptable practices/interventions. She then spoke of the role of both government workers and NGO’s in consulting, speaking to women and lobbying for women’s needs.
The afternoon sessions were in workshops and covered the topics: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Prevention in Indigenous Communities, Young People, Discussion on prevention by Mary Harvey, Communities Organising Against Sexual Assault and Drugs, Alcohol and Sexual Assault.
The final session of the conference was Kate Gilmore, Executive Deputy Secretary General of Amnesty International. Kate did an Oprah Winfrey style session where she asked conference participants what they had learnt or their impressions of the conference, she then made a presentation that placed the concerns of the conference within an international context.

1. Community meetings and forums were held provide a mechanism for discussing issues and solutions raised by workers and community members, this included specific forums for the Aboriginal community;
2. A survey was distributed to services to gain information on the awareness among services in Dubbo about domestic violence and the roles and responsibilities of other services;
3. Interagency guidelines, policies and procedures were developed which take account of the issues and problems that exist in Dubbo and provide a streamlined approach to service delivery and referral;
4. A pilot of on-call crisis service was developed as a way of ensuring that women were linked with services and the criminal justice system from their first point of contact with the police;
5. Interagency training was conducted to ensure that services and agencies are aware of the roles and responsibilities of services; what an 'integrated response' means; and ensure that there is a clear understanding of domestic violence across services;
6. Community education was provided about domestic violence, legal rights and services available to the wider community.

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