Saturday, April 19, 2014

Charmless Rage

We spent a day dealing with Domestic Violence cases this week. Unusually a couple of defendants chose to plead guilty so we adjourned their cases for reports, but the rest all went not guilty, so we had to deal with case management.

"There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face" may well be true, but we were given clues by a few of those we saw. One large man's body language made it as clear as can be that he considered the whole business beneath him. His face bore a scowl that suggested aggressive resentment  and his answers to the Clerk were brusque, but just short of the dividing line that would oblige the chairman to step in. His solicitor's face gave us a clue that he had a difficult and surly client.

Another burly young man had been seen dragging his girlfriend along by the hair, and when challenged by a passing motorist he said "Fuck off. She's my woman and I'll do what I like" . The lady concerned was sitting in the gallery of the court to see how lover boy got on. She has already made a withdrawal statement, but the case may still go ahead on what the police have got. She presumably knows what to expect the next time that he gets into a drink-and-drug-fuelled rage.

12 comments:

  1. When she ends up getting killed by her thug of a boyfriend it will be blamed on the police and the court.
    Jaded

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  2. It's one of the great mysteries why and woman would choose to stay with a violent partner. It maybe her self-confidence is rock bottom and they feel no-one else would want to be with her. There are countless cases of domestic violence where there are multiple instances of violent acts, yet she still stays by his side.

    This link goes some way to analysing this issue.

    http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/200804/why-do-some-battered-women-stay

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  3. 1. She might depend on him for food, shelter, drugs, etc. These services are unavailable when he is in the Scrubs.

    2. She might have warped ideas around 'love'.

    3. There might be her child dependent on him for food, shelter, drugs, etc

    4. She might (improbable as it may be) realise that her unreasonable behaviour provoked him.

    5. More likely, she might clobber him from time to time with a rolling pin or frying pan when he is drunk or drugged, and she sees it all as a reasonable quid pro quo.
    Life styles of the pond-life classes.

    The most important thing to do is to find out if there is a child in the mix, and extract it immediately.

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  4. Deliberate anonymous posting as I am a female barrister who can see both sides having prosecuted, defended, been abused and been the abuser.
    Life is not simple. Tony Fox is largely accurate in his comments although I do not think that this is a problem exclusively of the 'pond-life classes'. It is just that middle-class professionals are less likely to come before the courts.

    The only things I would add is that when one loves someone you don't want them dragged through the courts. You just want the abuse to stop. There is precious little support that is accessible without going through the criminal justice system. It is possible to still love someone even when bad things happen (yes I realise I am avoiding using the words violence/abuse/rape etc in this sentence for reasons I am sure you will understand); to love the person when they are sober or calm but not when they are not.

    There is also wanting to keep things private rather than dragging both your lives through the courts. For all that I am aware I fall into the 'but I loves him' category not wanting to expose my life in the courts is another reason not to make a complaint.

    There have been a number of discussions about domestic violence recently on this web-site. Some admirably thought out and sensitive, others (I am thinking specifically of someone who suggested denying treatment at the doctors for complainants who retract/do not attend court) fail to realise just how complicated people's lives are and have clearly never been in the situation of deciding whether to bring their life crashing down around their ears by pursuing a complaint or not.

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    1. Yes, all very well and good. The argument that we should walk a mile in another's shoes before we criticise is a powerful one. However for me the issue is not solely why a victim may not wish to go to court but why they stay with their abuser at all. The majority of your view is centered around the court process and why a victim seeks to avoid it when in fact we should collectively consider why the victim stays in an abusive relationship in the first place. The bottom line is that some people need saving from themselves.

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    2. THAT'S LIFE- SAD BUT TRUE!

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    3. Surely we should be considering why 'domestic' violence (whatever the gender of the victim) happens at all rather than why victim's won't attend court. Also saving people from themselves is both patronising and has the slight tinge of victim blaming; if she doesn't want to leave then what ever happens to her is her own fault. I may have misinterpreted that last line (it being notoriously hard to judge inflection on the internet) but I would agree with Tony Fox's comment about the children and where there are children they can be a compelling reason to intervene. I would be interested in 'the bystanders views' on this.

      I am far from convinced that the courts are the correct sledgehammer to crack that particular nut and there must be better ways to educate children and adults than trying, in a small proportion of cases, to get convictions through the courts and then putting people on domestic abuse programmes.

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  5. Does anyone know if the "specialist" DV courts set up some years ago, have any impact. (eg one at West London with a tribunal of sepecially trained mags or more usually, a DJ)?

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    1. I believe a court in Essex still operates a day of solely DV cases & has been doing so for a long time. Thatt suggests it's somewhat effective?

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  6. The link below mentions a domestic violence law could be on the horizon. It claims 1.2m women a year suffer domestic abuse and two women are killed every week by their partner.

    http://www.nickfreemansolicitors.co.uk/domestic-violence-laws-introduced-uk/

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  7. using state paid thugs to counteract domestic thugs isn't achieving much is it?

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    Replies
    1. Goggins go back to your own sad blog and alter peoples posts-free speech?

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