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The domestic violence protection order system as entry to the criminal justice system for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people Heather Douglas and Robin Fitzgerald

By: Douglas, Heather.
Contributor(s): Fitzgerald, Robin.
Material type: materialTypeLabelArticleSeries: International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy.Publisher: Crime, Justice and Social Democracy Research Centre, QUT, 2018Subject(s): ABORIGINAL & TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLES | COLONISATION | CRIMINAL JUSTICE | CULTURE | DOMESTIC VIOLENCE | INDIGENOUS PEOPLES | INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE | JUSTICE | PERPETRATORS | PROTECTION ORDERS | RACISM | SENTENCING | VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE | WOMEN | IWI TAKETAKE | AUSTRALIA | QUEENSLANDOnline resources: Click here to access online In: International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 2018, 7(3): 41-57Summary: The domestic violence protection order (DVO) system is a hybrid system of criminalisation in which the DVO itself is a civil order, but any contravention of that order may result in a criminal charge. Limited attention has been paid to the potential consequences of criminalisation through the hybrid DVO system in the Australian context. We use Queensland as a case study and examine administrative data gathered through Queensland Courts. We show that a disproportionate number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people are named on DVOs, charged with contraventions of DVOs and significantly more likely than non-Indigenous people to receive a sentence of imprisonment for a contravention of a DVO, compared to non-Indigenous people. We find that ATSI women are particularly overrepresented in this system. We review explanations for these startling figures and emphasize the need for a change in approach. (Authors' abstract). Record #6013
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International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 2018, 7(3): 41-57

The domestic violence protection order (DVO) system is a hybrid system of criminalisation in which the DVO itself is a civil order, but any contravention of that order may result in a criminal charge. Limited attention has been paid to the potential consequences of criminalisation through the hybrid DVO system in the Australian context. We use Queensland as a case study and examine administrative data gathered through Queensland Courts. We show that a disproportionate number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people are named on DVOs, charged with contraventions of DVOs and significantly more likely than non-Indigenous people to receive a sentence of imprisonment for a contravention of a DVO, compared to non-Indigenous people. We find that ATSI women are particularly overrepresented in this system. We review explanations for these startling figures and emphasize the need for a change in approach. (Authors' abstract). Record #6013