Family violence commission told offenders should be forced from homes
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Version 0 of 1. Violent partners should be forced to leave family homes to stop women becoming trapped in abusive relationships, advocates have told Victoria’s royal commission into family violence. Homelessness support services said housing in Victoria was unaffordable for single mothers fleeing violent partners. More than one third of homelessness is linked to family violence in Victoria, according to the Council to Homeless Persons, but in many cases families could avoid becoming homeless if the perpetrators of violence were made to leave the home. Related: Family violence royal commission: the seven lessons learned so far “If you knew the justice system could keep them away, you would be much more likely to stay at home,” Swinburne University lecturer Angela Spinney told the commission on Tuesday. “There are more children living in refuges in Australia than there are women, and that’s a really shocking fact.” Spinney said allowing violent offenders to stay at home was an outdated approach based on the assumption that women must leave violent relationships. “There’s still an attitude that it should be the women and children who become homeless, and the perpetrator, the actual criminal, should be the one that remains in the home,” she said. “It’s slowly beginning to change but we really need to work on that and we need to work on that fast.” Related: Day one of royal commission into family violence to focus on victims and causes Families that had access to crisis accommodation were often forced to jump from house to house every few weeks, Spinney said. Some refuges have rules about the number of children per family they could house or prohibit boys over the age of 12. Private rentals are increasingly out of reach for many Victorians, let alone single parents who might not work full-time. Private landlords avoid women with young children who live on benefits, Spinney said. Lack of long-term crisis accommodation is further compounded by the lack of housing for violent offenders. “It’s in our interest to house that one perpetrator rather than three or four people,” Spinney said. The commission is due to report to the government in February next year. |