Hi everyone
Some may have missed this post from wary, which has been augmented with some very useful information from Lady Lee.
Here is a link to the original thread:
Assuming I have Lady Lee's permission, I would like to replicate her comment below:
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New domestic violence laws target emotional abuse
Updated June 03, 2012 11:56:31
New domestic violence laws will make it an offence to harm pets, cut people off from their family or withhold financial support. The changes to the Family Law Act were passed in December but come into effect this week. They expand the definition of domestic violence to more than just physical harm, such as denying a family member financial autonomy or the money required to meet reasonable living expenses.
The changes also include emotional abuse and preventing a person from maintaining contact with family, friends or their culture. The Salvation Army's Major Andrew Craib says the changes recognise that it is not just physical acts of violence that can harm children. "They might see a perpetrator constantly putting people down.
Often people hear that enough and they begin to believe that for themselves and that's unacceptable in our society," he said. Mr Craib also says the changes are a reflection of society's rejection of domestic violence. He hopes the changes will encourage more victims to seek help. "They're more likely to feel now that somebody has an understanding of the circumstances that they're putting up with," he said. "I would hope that that gives them a bit of confidence and reassurance that people are actually going to hear them and believe them and that some action is going to come about that's going to bring both their safety and that of their children."
Topics: domestic-violence, law-crime-and-justice, australia
First posted June 03, 2012 11:06:47
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-03/new-domestic-violence-laws-target-emotional-abuse/4049150
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It is about time emotional abuse gets fully recognized. The problem that I see is that they can't handle the physical abuse cases now. There just aren't enough services. Now that problem will increase ten fold as victims of emotional abuse begin to step forward. What they are going to need to get them stepping forward though is an excellent educational program to help people understand the negative imapct of emotional abuse.
Should also be interesting to see how this plays into the emotional abuse perpetrated by cults.
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I first had this issue brought to my attention by relatives in Australia.
I'm no legal expert, and it seems a stretch to suggest that this change will make shunning illegal straight away. However, one could easily imagine a scenario whereby a future victim of shunning in Australia with money to spend takes the Society to court over "emotional abuse" and wins. Or is that just wishful thinking?
Cedars