Australia: Abused wife's payout cut because she was used to violence (!)

Shouldn't it have been the other way around?

DOMESTIC violence experts fear a court ruling that slashed a battered woman's compensation payment because she was "conditioned" to domestic violence by her husband will deter other victims from taking legal action.

Diane Mangan, chief executive of the 24-hour helpline DV Connect, said the decision to reduce the payout because of the woman's predisposition to mental stress from previous domestic violence only served to "diminish" her traumatic experience. "It's almost like saying the years that you have suffered at the hands of your husband don't count," she said.

The District Court in Brisbane was told that in 2006, the woman, 30, and her children were confronted by her husband, 36, who was wielding a knife.

A hostage situation developed and when police arrived, the couple's children were handed out of a window. The husband then pushed his wife into a bedroom door, injuring her shoulder.

After later pleading guilty to deprivation of liberty and common assault charges, he was jailed for two years to be suspended after eight months.

His wife applied for criminal compensation and in a recent judgment was awarded $20,250.

Judge Richard Jones said unfortunately for the woman, the incident was one of a long history of domestic violence and that she had been "conditioned" to the violence by her husband. He noted that the offences before him had pushed the woman over the edge.

Judge Jones said because of the woman's predisposition to post traumatic stress disorder, it was contended by lawyers that the percentage of the maximum compensation for mental anguish should be reduced from 34 to 20 per cent. He said 20 per cent was justified.

It was the latest case where judges expressed concern that their hands were tied when awarding criminal compensation payments to long-term domestic violence victims.

Ms Mangan said many victims were so emotionally damaged they could not face court. Such a ruling would only further deter them from relying on the legal system, she said.

UQ law school Associate Professor Heather Douglas said the laws were designed to handle compensation claims for a range of individualised crimes and operated on a case-by-case basis to avoid "double dipping".

But that caused "frustration" in domestic violence cases, she said, because previous acts of violence were largely uncontested in courts and most victims had not already received compensation.

She said a "radical systematic change" was needed to develop separate rules that allowed judges to consider historical domestic violence that had not already come before the courts.

Original report here




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