ENGENDER IN THE NEWS

By Sophie Jaggers
Posted to ABC News, 05/08/24 – 8:59am (Updated 05/08/24 – 11:57am)

Independent MP David O’Byrne is proposing a change to Tasmania’s family violence laws to include harming, or threatening to harm, animals as a form of family violence.

Support services say instances of threats to harm pets are “incredibly common” in abusive relationships.

Mr O’Byrne plans to table his proposal in state parliament this week, with the government saying it is willing to “consider” the legislation and let parliament decide.

Broadcast on Nightly News 7 Tasmania, 04/08/24

Independent, David O’Byrne is set to table a new bill in Parliament this week aimed at protecting people and pets fleeing family violence. It comes at a time when coercive control is rife amongst communities, with Tasmania looking to fall in line with legislation in other states.

By Jess Flint
Posted to The Advocate online 15/03/23 – 6:34pm

Calls for a review into the application of Police Family Violence Orders (PFVO) have grown in response to concerns about the misidentification of family violence aggressors.

By Jess Flint
Posted to The Advocate online, 14/03/24 – 4:30pm (Updated 15/03/23)

Engender Equality released a report that explores the phenomenon of misidentification of predominant aggressors in Tasmania – put simply, this refers to incidents where a victim of abuse may be incorrectly identified as the perpetrator.

Contributing factors to misidentification may include instances where aggression was displayed as a response to abuse in retaliation, frustration, or self-defence.

The report noted that Tasmanian Police have the ability to issue on-the-spot PFVOs of up to 12 months. In other Australian jurisdictions, on-the-spot orders are temporary and last between 24 hours and 28 days.

By Hayley Gleeson
Posted by ABC News online 05/03/23 – 5:00am (Updated 05/03/23 – 10:51am)

For years domestic violence workers around Australia have been warning of a growing misidentification crisis: of mounting cases where police have mistaken the victim for the perpetrator and taken out an intervention order against them or charged them with criminal offences. Often it’s because female victims have presented as “hostile” or “hysterical” — or because they’ve fought back or defended themselves — and police haven’t gathered all the facts, or dug into the couple’s history of coercive control, or realised an abuser is trying to manipulate the system.

By Peter Vincent
Posted to Daily Mail Australia online 05/03/23 – 16:50 (Updated 05/03/23 15:24)

A woman living with autism phoned police for help after she was assaulted by her partner before she was mistakenly identified as the aggressor. Anna* was heaped with the blame despite her partner crushing her into a door at his home in southern Tasmania during an argument over money in 2021.

Her story comes after a report was released this week showing people who were mistakenly identified as aggressors were struggling to have their names cleared.

By Pulse Tasmania, 01/05/24 – 7:00pm

Hundreds of Tasmanians gathered in Hobart, Launceston and Ulverstone to remember victims of domestic violence.

Families of victim survivors joined advocates and community members in lighting candles to honour those who have lost their lives on the national day of remembrance.

By Kellie Scott
Posted to ABC Everyday online 7/02/23

“I was constantly run off my feet so I could never take a moment to myself for anything”. – Nova, late 20s

Food control is a form of coercive control that is often invisible and potentially life-threatening, explains Alina Thomas, the CEO of Engender Equality.

Food control was just one aspect of abuse Nova experienced in the relationship she has since escaped.

“If he didn’t want to eat what I was making, he would demand I leave to get something else for him,” Nova, in her late 20s, says.

“He’d say he’d watch what I was cooking, then allow it to burn while I was gone so … me and my children would have nothing”.

Other times, he would give food set aside for her children to his pet dogs, or take it out of the fridge so it went bad.

Nova’s ex would steal money she needed for groceries, make negative comments about her body, stop her from exercising, and criticise her food choices.

He would also make demands around food that impacted her ability to complete basic daily tasks, like showering.

“Every time he wanted a coffee or something to eat, he would have me drop whatever I was doing to make it for him. Like stopping me from bathing, or [he would] wake me up in the middle of the night to go make him what he wanted”.