The absence of women involved in the criminal justice system from Australia’s national discussion on preventing family and domestic violence

Willoughby, Melissa; Kinner, Stuart A

doi:10.5694/mja2.51319

Topics

To the Editor: The Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs recently completed its inquiry and final report into family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia.1 This comprehensive report made 88 recommendations to inform Australia’s next National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children (National Plan).

1 University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC
2 Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC

Correspondence: mwilloughby@student.unimelb.edu.au

Acknowledgements:

Melissa Willoughby is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Postgraduate Scholarship (GNT1151103). Stuart Kinner receives salary support from a NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (GNT1078168). The funding sources had no involvement in the writing of the letter or decision to submit it for publication.

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

1. House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs. Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 2021. https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource‐files/2021‐04/apo‐nid311677.pdf (viewed Apr 2021).
2. Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, Women’s imprisonment and domestic, family, and sexual violence — research synthesis. Sydney: ANROWS, 2020. https://d2rn9gno7zhxqg.cloudfront.net/wp‐content/uploads/2020/07/16102534/ANROWS‐Imprisonment‐DFV‐Synthesis.1.pdf (viewed Apr 2021).
3. Willoughby M, Spittal MJ, Borschmann R, et al. Violence‐related deaths among people released from prison: a data linkage study. J Interpers Violence 2020; https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520905546 [Epub ahead of print].
4. Ulbrick M, Jago M. “Officer she’s psychotic and I need protection”: police misidentification of the “primary aggressor” in family violence incidents in Victoria. Melbourne: Women’s Legal Service Victoria, Monash University; 2018. https://www.womenslegal.org.au/files/file/WLSV%20Policy%20Brief%201%20MisID%20July%202018.pdf (viewed Apr 2021).
5. Australian Government. National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, 2010–2022. https://plan4womenssafety.dss.gov.au/ (viewed Apr 2021).
6. Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration. Creating a trauma‐informed criminal justice system for women: why and how. Rockville, MD: SAMHSA, 2013. http://www.nasmhpd.org/sites/default/files/Women%20in%20Corrections%20TIC%20SR(2).pdf (viewed May 2021).

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