A unique court that specialises in domestic violence cases should be set up in Orange.
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That was among a raft of proposals at a seminar on regional domestic violence support groups organised by the No to Violence body which is currently on a “listening tour” of NSW.
No to Violence CEO Jacqui Watt said the family violence court system currently operated in Victoria.
“That way you can ensure all the judges and the staff are really skilled in family violence,” she said.
Ms Watt said another key issue to emerge from the Wednesday morning session in Orange was the need for more police.
You can ensure all the judges and the staff are really skilled in family violence.
- Jacqui Watt, No to Violence CEO
“One thing that stood out for me was hearing how police who come from the city to work in Orange can’t believe how busy they are and how stressed our services are here in Orange,” she said.
“Doubling police numbers won’t stop family violence but it will give a signal to the community that something is being done about it. It says ‘we are really taking this seriously,” she said.
She said extra police would enable officers more time to spend on individual cases.
That included taking extra time to talk to children about the level of violence and harm they were experiencing to help police get more information.
Ms Watt said NTV specialised in working with men to change attitudes, beliefs, behaviour and choices regarding family violence.
She said the work needed to start at school when attitudes toward family violence were formed when people were young.
“This is complex, this is not a one-directional approach,” she said.
Ms Watt said information and ideas from this seminar and others on the listening tour would be compiled.
“We’ll capture all this and we’ll do a report for Orange,” she said. That would then be used to lobby politicians for funding and resources ahead of the state election due on March 23.
She said they were also developing a program where the names and contact details of domestic violence offenders would be given to No to Violence so they could invite them to undertake behaviour change programs.
“Our service will make three attempts to call him,” she said.
The No to Violence Men’s Referral Service, which operates seven days a week, can be contacted on 1300 766 491.
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