12 September 2005
It’s time to say enough is enough!
The incidence and long term consequences of domestic violence will continue to devastate women and children if changes to the family law system are not made, a keynote speaker will tell delegates at a major conference on violence against women being held in Sydney this week.
“The consequences for women and children living with abuse are more serious and long term than people believe,” says 31 year old domestic violence survivor and author of Dancing with the Devil, Amy Norman.
“It is time men were made accountable for their actions and that the courts listened to the fears women hold for themselves and their children – it’s time to stop treating the victim as the criminal,” Ms Norman says.
After enduring years of violence at the hands of a partner who bashed her, tied her up, raped her and threw her through walls, Amy tried to leave several times but her attempts to get help from the legal system repeatedly failed.
Speaking on day one of the Refocusing Women’s Experience of Violence conference being held at Bankstown Town Hall from 14 September – 16 September, Amy hopes to help others understand the full impact violence has on women’s lives and why it is often so difficult for these women to leave and wants to change people’s perceptions.
“I will do this by delving into the experiences of my children and looking at the many things that need to be changed, especially within the family court system,” she says.
Major thinkers and leading advocates for women’s rights will be speaking at the three day conference including journalist and author Anne Summers, former West Australian Premier Carmen Lawrence, Federal ALP member for Sydney, Tanya Plibersek and feminist academic Sheila Jeffreys.
Papers will be presented exploring the many ways in which violence is perpetrated on women - often insidiously - through such things as the trafficking in women for sexual exploitation in Australia, violence against women in recently settled refugee families, and myths, misconceptions and the men’s movement.
The full conference program can be viewed online at http://www.tourhosts.com.au/refocusing2005/
The conference is being organised by the combined South West Sydney Domestic Violence Committee which comprises Government and non-Government workers in the fields of health, housing, domestic violence and refuges. It has only been made
possible due to sponsorships, donations and in kind support from local councils, community groups and some support from the Department of Community Services and Premier’s Department.
