Women Re-Victimised By Current Law
MEDIACOM-RELEASE-NCIWR
WOMEN RE-VICTIMISED BY CURRENT
LAW
"A review of battered woman's syndrome and its
application in
New Zealand law is way overdue" says
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, Chief
Executive of the National
Collective of Independent Women's Refuges.
"A woman, who
has experienced violence that most of us find
difficult
to fathom, kills or injures her abuser and then is
sentenced to life imprisonment. Effectively, she is
being re-
victimised. She may be separated from her
children, perhaps even
loose custody of them, she'll
loose her job, her home and her
liberty".
Women's
Refuge supports Judith Albert-Kerr's calls for changes in
the law to accommodate the circumstances of victims of
family
violence.
"The current legal situation does
not adequately take into
account the environment that
leads to women killing their abusive
partners."
Raukawa-Tait also says that Battered Woman's Syndrome
needs
revamping.
"How we represent victims' realities
in court needs to be
addressed. `Battered Woman's
Syndrome' is very problematic. It's
medicalised and
requires women to fit certain criteria. If they
don't
fit the bill, then they are disqualified, or severely
disadvantaged, from introducing their experiences of
violence in
their defense."
The National Collective
of Independent Women's Refuges welcomes
the move by the
Law Commission to prompt debate about the issue and
will
be presenting a submission on the discussion paper.
"Each
year Women's Refuge assists 17 000 women and their
children. We've been doing this for 27 years, so we're
in an
excellent position to be able to comment".
ENDS....
MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE NATIONAL COLLECTIVE OF INDEPENDENT
WOMEN'S REFUGES