How to tackle domestic violence and seek intervention in Australia?

When any family member whether a spouse, child, parent, sibling or any other familial relative is intimidated, fearful, emotionally deprived or harmed in anyway by another family member by threatening, abusing or behaving coercively it is clearly a case of domestic violence.

Domestic Violence can be in the form of:     

•           Emotional violence
•        Sexual abuse / violence
•        Physical violence
•        Economic violence

Domestic violence or family violence as it is referred as, is a serious crime and unfortunately 1 in 3 Australian women has experienced physical violence, since the age of 15 and 1 in 5 Australian women has experienced sexual violence by their partner or ex-partner, says www.ourwatch.org in their study.

Some of the instance of domestic violence are:

•       Stalking
•        Sexual or physical assault
•        Making derogatory comments
•        Causing damage to the property intentionally
•        Causing injury or death of a pet animal willfully
•        Irrationally denying financial authority he/she would have had
•        Intentionally not meeting financial needs of the dependents in the family
•        Threatening to harm / kill oneself
•        Not allowing a family member to stay in touch with his/her family, friends, colleagues, religion etc

Family violence and child abuse have prominent address in Family Law Act. Intervention orders can be sought from the court for immediate effect and you can file a case in court of domestic or family violence.

Child abuse instances are:       

•           Emotional and/ or sexual exploitation
•            Serious neglect of the child
• ]         Subjected to psychological harm by witnessing family violence

Intervention Orders:

Family Violence orders are referred in different names in different states. In Victoria state, it is referred as Intervention Orders.

IF you are a victim of domestic violence, seek police protection immediately and get a Safety Notice to safeguard you and your property. A Safety Notice ensures your protection for a short period until you get an Intervention Order from the Family Court.

You can also seek assistance from Domestic Violence Research Centre Victoria (DVRCV).

Once the intervention order is issued, the accused family member is restricted to meet or contact the applicant in any way.

Visit www.familylawyersinmelbourne.comto know more about issues that come under family law and how to handle them.