Violence epidemic of First Nations women and children in the spotlight of Senate inquiry held in Darwin

It paints A dire picture of the gaps that First Nations women fall through poor living conditions, financial instability and limited access to basic services, creating a hostile environment. A Senate inquiry in Darwin heard of the 49 communities with legal services, only 19 have safe houses and only two have men’s behaviour programs. The current system leads to a disjointed and fragmented response from all service providers, from police to legal services, to support services. That lets these women down and places them at risk of further harm or death. When issues do make it to court, a lack of interpreters and resources lead to delays and the subsequent release of perpetrators on bail. The delay in outcomes means that the ultimate response of the criminal justice system, sentencing guilty people, is likewise delayed, and inevitably, so too is the protective function of the criminal law. On top of that, there’s a distrust of services like police and territory families. NT police were criticised for failing to take women’s pleas for help seriously and for misidentifying victims as perpetrators. The person who is showing aggression or maybe even committed under the legislation. Offences against another person is the person actually need more protection. Those are the aspects are now part of our training. The NT has complex issues but witnesses say the solutions can be simple. Almost everyone called for needs based funding. It’s a call that advocates have been making for a long time. But now they hope it’s not falling on deaf ears. We’re all committed to coming up with some positive recommendations that will make a difference, and to the extent that we can do that across state boundaries, across party lines, I think that will help shine a bright light on this issue. But as the inquiry continues, the number of women murdered or missing continues to grow.