Whilst browsing the daily news I came across an article entitled Domestic violence register to protect women who fear their partners’ past (6 March 2015)
(If you haven’t already read my blog post about violent behaviour by women, then now would be a good time to do so)
Mike Baird (Premier of New South Wales, Australia) has proposed the establishment of a register of violent men. The intention is that potential female partners can check to see if their ‘person of interest’ has a track-record of abuse.
Mike’s proposal is based on a system now operating in the United Kingdom, known as Clare’s Law. Thus far I have been unable to locate any serious analysis of the efficacy of the UK system. The Premier has promised to introduce the system if re-elected. Has his staff determined that the proposed system would be likely to be effective? To be cost-effective? Does he really care? Or is the perceived potential for electoral mileage sufficient to justify a scheme that will no doubt involve a considerable outlay of taxpayer dollars?
“It is understood the list will first be made up only of men convicted of a charge of domestic assault, but the government will consider extending this to men who are the subject of an ADVO after consultation with the Justice Department.
Safeguards will be put in place so that people asking if someone is on the register have to prove they are in a domestic relationship.”
At this stage the operational details are unclear and many questions remain unanswered. For example:
How would women prove that they are in a relationship with the man in question?
What measures would be taken to prevent men being listed on the basis of false allegations?
How much will the register cost to establish and maintain, and will such a service significantly affect the rates of perpetration of domestic violence? Or will it, in fact, make any difference at all?
It is of concern that a political leader would contemplate such a ‘service’ without thought being given to the fairness and desirability of including violent women. That this fellow has done so demonstrates just how far under the spell of feminism our leaders seem to have fallen. And unfortunately the NSW opposition party offers the community no better alternative in this regard.
The proposal is sexist and discriminatory in that it reinforces the negative and inaccurate stereotype that domestic violence consists entirely of men abusing women, and that women do not perpetrate violence.
The proposal is sexist and discriminatory in that it denies to men whatever limited protection the register might provide to women.
It may well be that after Mike’s proposal has been subject to proper analysis and consultation, it will be found to be non-viable. If it is to proceed, however, then the records of everyone with a history of violence must be made accessible.
“Premier Mike Baird and Minister for Women Pru Goward said the groundbreaking registry, announced on Friday, would be set up if they win the state election on March 28. “Quite frankly, I’m sick of excuses,” Mr Baird said“.
Well quite frankly I’m sick of politicians pandering to the feminist movement by diverting millions of dollars of public funds each year to feminist NGO’s like these. Feminists whose voices, by the way, now represent only a small minority of Australian women.
My concerns would be mitigated if, at the end of the day, there were clear benefits for the Australian community. More often than not, however, the outcome is one that sees the Government achieve very little with regard to the problem/s that they originally claimed they set out to address. Conversely, the collateral damage and the wasted opportunities that result from such a course of action are not inconsequential. No matter, the next news cycle will no doubt provide some convenient diversion.
Update 2 April 2015: Mike Baird was re-elected and has now appointed feminist Pru Goward as the first ever ‘Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault’
Update 22 May 2015: The NSW Government has released a discussion paper on the DV register concept. The receipt of public submissions in relation to this document ended on 19 June 2015. I provided a submission noting, amongst other things, my concern that the discussion paper did not explicitly state that both men and women were to be included in the register.
Update 15 February 2019: Violent offenders on GPS trackers to lower domestic violence in Australia (15 February 2019) A tech-ed up variation on the register concept – but will it make any difference in terms of decreasing the incidence of DV?
Update 23 January 2023: NSW women and men will be able to check partner’s violence history online with disclosure scheme. Video of news item here. Here we go again #FacePalm
Update 25 January 2023: New domestic violence scheme is a quick fix for a massive issue. Zero mention of female perpetrators or male victims, but they happily predict that there needs to be “resourcing the specialist domestic violence sector to provide critical referrals and support to victim-survivors engaging with the scheme”. You can almost hear all those feminist hands rubbing together.
See also:
Domestic Violence Disclosure Schemes: A National Review, by Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre (June 2023)
Writer named in controversial ‘media men’ list wins round in court (4 January 2022) Relates to USA feminist writer, Moira Donegan, who later featured in coverage of the Depp-Heard court case (example).
And now a dating app that allegedly screens out dangerous men (20 December 2021) with a further reference here.
250 South Australians use Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme to check on abusive partners (10 October 2019)
The secret Facebook groups where women shame their exes (22 August 2019) UK
Queensland ‘initiative’ referred to here as an ‘Alternative Reporting Option’ (June 2018) I would imagine that there would be plenty of scope for abuse here
UK experience of domestic violence disclosure schemes is a cautionary tale for Australia (12 October 2016)
Violent offenders registers sound good, but are a costly, unproven distraction (8 July 2015)
Police call for family violence offender register (1 July 2015)
Is Michigan’s sex offender registry actually protecting us? (26 May 2015)
Early warning scheme for domestic violence (21 May 2015)
NSW domestic violence register to expose potential abusers (20 May 2015)
Put DV abusers on national register (14 March 2015) Features some interesting readers comments. The author, Wendy Tuohy, claims that the register will include violent women but I have been unable to obtain official confirmation of this. Even Mike Baird’s original media release is quite ambiguous on this point.
NSW state election 2015: Mike Baird beefs up domestic violence and sexual assault laws (6 March 2015)
Domestic violence register could lead to increased not guilty pleas, privacy experts warn (6 March 2015)
Video item on the proposal as featured in the ‘Sunrise’ TV show which has generated a large number of viewer comments with a definite majority being supportive of the inclusion of violent women on the register
Domestic violence register won’t work: ALP (6 March 2015)
Sex offender registers often get raised in conversations about domestic violence registers – so here is an article on that topic: Sex Offender Registries (SOR’s): Time for a change (16 August 2014)
Clare’s Law: a violation of our private lives (28 November 2013)
Now people can be told of their partner’s violent past thanks to new law named after tragic murder victim (8 March 2014)
Clare’s Law: a simple solution, or more confusion? (25 November 2013)
Epidemic of Restraining / Protection Order Abuse by women against innocent men (31 July 2013) USA
Baird promises domestic violence minister (6 March 2015) Google ‘affectatious‘. How about a Minister for Road Safety? Minister for Prevention of Substance Abuse?