On both a national and international scale, Violence against Women is one of the most universally violated human rights; as outlined in the United Nation’s ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, Article 3 “everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” In Australia alone over one woman a week is killed by someone known to them; this year 57 women have been murdered by a current or former partner in Australia, not including unreported or unsolved cases. Whilst a variety of legal and non-legal mechanisms exist for the victims of violence, the effectiveness of these must be scrutinized through the examination of criteria such as the equality, enforceability, accessibility and opportunity for appeals and reviews of these instruments.
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Two categories of AVOs exist: Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders, for domestic-relationships, and Apprehended Personal Violence Orders, for non-familiar and non-domestic relationships. Whilst the majority of ADVOs and APVOs work effectively, there are a number of aspects that necessitate reform. (Legalaid.nsw.gov.au, 2015) The most obvious example of this need for reform is the case of Rosie and Luke Batty, when an ADVO failed to protect the mother and son, leading to the death of a child. A more recent example is that of mother of three, Tara Costigan, who had “sought court protection from her ex-partner just one day before he allegedly killed her and attacked two other people...” (Knaus, 2015) Although equality and the opportunity for appeals and reviews continue to work effectively, it is the accessibility and enforceability that needs to be revaluated. Similar to issues of accessibility with international law, it is a lack of education on the legal system resulting in victims of violence being unaware of these legal-mechanisms. Perhaps most importantly is the lack of effective enforceability associated with ADVOs and APVOs due largely to limited police resources and the complex nature of the order; police cannot act unless the order is breached, by which time they may be unable to assist in the protection of a
Two categories of AVOs exist: Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders, for domestic-relationships, and Apprehended Personal Violence Orders, for non-familiar and non-domestic relationships. Whilst the majority of ADVOs and APVOs work effectively, there are a number of aspects that necessitate reform. (Legalaid.nsw.gov.au, 2015) The most obvious example of this need for reform is the case of Rosie and Luke Batty, when an ADVO failed to protect the mother and son, leading to the death of a child. A more recent example is that of mother of three, Tara Costigan, who had “sought court protection from her ex-partner just one day before he allegedly killed her and attacked two other people...” (Knaus, 2015) Although equality and the opportunity for appeals and reviews continue to work effectively, it is the accessibility and enforceability that needs to be revaluated. Similar to issues of accessibility with international law, it is a lack of education on the legal system resulting in victims of violence being unaware of these legal-mechanisms. Perhaps most importantly is the lack of effective enforceability associated with ADVOs and APVOs due largely to limited police resources and the complex nature of the order; police cannot act unless the order is breached, by which time they may be unable to assist in the protection of a