Speaking Truth to Power

Résumé du livre

The author's daughter, who had cancer, spent her last years fighting for survival against her violent husband and against the police abuse of the system meant to protect her. She found that her daughter's treatment was typical of the many domestic violence cases where the police misidentify the woman as the perpetrator. From personal, anecdotal and documented evidence, she discovered that the police are complicit with the male perpetrators, which is a major cause in the rise in domestic violence. The author investigated the misogynist ideology that women are equally violent to men. This emerged last century in step with the rise of feminist activism and is still informing police practices. She exposes how the police have misappropriated the legal processes meant protect women as a way of criminalising them. In particular the dual domestic violence orders are used by the front line police to trap women, who are the victims, on the path which leads the jail. In contravention of police codes of conduct, the author's daughter was charged as the perpetrator without evidence and without an investigation of the causes of violence. In her search to explain the persistence of practices which criminalise women, the author cites her experience with the police complaints process which functions to protect police by covering up their wrongdoing. This is done by dismissing the complaint, delaying investigation, misinterpretation of the law and failing to communicate with complainants. She concluded that the latitude allowed by the police to the perpetrators of domestic violence, along with the latitude allowed to the police by the complaints system, allows escalation in both situations which is a cause of the persistence and escalation of domestic violence in the community. The author appealed her case to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission which investigated the complaint and validated her claims against the police. There has been no response from the police and apparently nothing done to correct these wrongs. The author is currently considering taking her complaint to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights committee for adjudication and action.