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Justice - Putting an end to domestic violence

7 mars 2014, 16:09

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Law enforcement and cooperation between different bodies are not enough to successfully prosecute perpetrators of violence at home. The author proposes alternative approaches…

 

Domestic violence is a serious crime. It ruins lives, breaks families and very often, children become collateral victims for life. Last year, there were 1,775 applications made to Magistrates at various District Courts for protection orders under the Domestic Violence Act. They represent an increase of 17.7% over last year’s figures. The Gender Links Survey of 2012 finds that at least one in four women has experienced gender-based violence at some time in their life and that 23% of gender-based violence in Mauritius occurs within intimate partners.

 

The statistics are worrying, when we know that domestic violence is rarely a one-off incident. It is often a series of incidents, increasing in frequency and seriousness. And when everything else fails, the victim has to gather a good deal of courage to come forward and report a case. It so happens that in 90 % of these reported cases, women are victims.

 

We have made considerable progress since the days domestic violence was considered to be a private matter “ent mari ek fam”. We have today enacted a specific legislation, the Domestic Violence Act to protect victims. The Act buttresses the existing provisions under our Criminal Code punishing violence of all sorts including sexual offences. It is full of good intentions providing for a civil regime of preventive orders and punishing offenders up to two years imprisonment.

 

Law enforcement is only a tiny part of the solution. More effort is required from different quarters, employers, schools, Internet service providers, media and NGOs.

 

At the level of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), I have issued clear guidance for a coordinated approach in so far as possible with all agencies concerned, the Family Protection Unit of the Police, the Probation Office and the CDU. We are confronted with two important challenges. Too many victims abandon their cases. They either fail to turn up in court or refuse to give evidence or simply withdraw the complaint. They fear Victimization.

 

An alternative approach is necessary if we are to prosecute perpetrators of domestic violence successfully. And that means less dependency on the evidence of the victims in court in so far as possible. Investigators including officers from the CDU have to resort to new techniques of investigation if we are to mitigate these problems. Technology can be of immense assistance.

 

In any investigation for a case of domestic violence, the first hour is critical. The police investigator must therefore be equipped with a photocamera (or video camera) still better to gather as much evidence as possible at an early stage. The officer should take a photograph of the victim, how did he or she look? Was the victim injured? What was his or her demeanour? Was he or she disheveled? If he arrives on the scene of the crime, was the furniture overturned or broken? How about the neighbours, did they hear anything? Photos and videos can constitute

invaluable evidence and can assist the prosecution to rely less and less on reluctant victims.

 

Domestic violence remains a priority for my office. Many people sadly enough are blissfully unaware of the extent of the problem and its impact. I would not be surprised if domestic violence is the least reported crime. There is a dire need for more awareness programmes engaging men positively on the use of violence at home and the impact of the damage on children. The law needs to be tightened for better enforcement and extended to capture psychological harm as a crime. It is already recommended for cases of torture.

 

This year, the Victims and Witness Support Unit of the ODPP is publishing an informative booklet on the legal avenues available to victims of domestic violence. The first ODPP podcast also addresses the problems of domestic violence.

 

‘‘There should be less dependence on the evidence given by the victims in court.’’