While domestic violence is awful, should we not punish the guilty rather than spend lots on safe rooms?

Question

The safe rooms that are being suggested by ruth kelly to be the answer to domestic violence must be very expensive. Surely we can do better than making vitims of this crime hide away. If they are in that much danger, can the police not arrest the partner responsible! I believe we should support the victim 100% but that support should be to remove the problem not treat the symptoms! What does everyone else think?

Answer 1

the police dont arrest people that easily
i live in an area (council home) with two of my kids, both under 3. since the day we moved in we had nothin but trouble. we had windows broken, car damage, people entering our back garden and causing havoc! when i go out there are teenagers who swear and shout not giving a damnn dat my kids are there... they scare my children and dnt stop until there crying there eyes out.. afew times they became violent and started throeing things at us... its never ending... i been living here for a year now and must have called the police 3 times a month! i inform the council, the anti-social behaviour team... everyone u can get help from... and they do nothing.. apparently they cant do anything... its thre word against mine.... or they've been warned.... or any other stupid excuse u can possibly imagine!! they wont even put cctv up in the area!
if teenagers can get away with causing crap and hurting people whether verbally or physically they will do it... and with whats NOT going on they know they can get away with anything!

Answer 2

I agree that if the victim remains at considerable risk, then the force of the law should be used to prevent the perpetrator from having access to the victim to commit further offences. It is possible to sentence the offender to curfews, probation supervision, exclusion from the area where the victim lives, prohibition on contacting her, etc, and it is also possible to take out civil measures such as restraining orders.

However, the reality is that unless perpetrators are in custody, they cannot be watched 24 hours a day and all of these measures rely on being enforced. That can be very difficult to do in practice so women and children very often end up being moved around a lot to stay one step ahead of the perpetrator. As I understand it, the idea of "panic rooms" is being suggested to prevent victims spending lots of time in temporary accommodation, which is disruptive to schooling and support networks (as well as very costly).

I suppose on balance my response is that an ideal world, the perpetrators would be so restricted that panic rooms wouldn't be needed. But pragmatically, maybe they are a better alternative for victims than being uprooted and housed in shelters and hostels.

Answer 3

It doesnt work like that - you can punish the guilty ones but they can never be cured - they just keep on coming back and the more you arrest them, the worse the blame on the victim. I have been a victim of domestic violence and its a scary situation to be in believe me. Usually the person dishing out the abuse gets the victim to such a low point tht they havent got the confidence or the strength to do anything about it - safe houses are the only way forward - get the victim out of the picture until they regain the strength and courage to stand up to the bully and live life on their own away from the person xxxxxxxxxxxx

Answer 4

One child dies in this country at the hands of its parents every week. Its illegal, it gets punished when they're caught; and the punishment doesn't prevent it happening.
So it is with all other forms of violence. Punishment happens after the event, if the victim is lucky enough to be able to prove their case. And prepared to give evidence.
Justice has to be more than just punishment. There also has to be support in getting women to leave and move on. And punishment doesn't prevent men walking out of prison and doing the same thing again.

Women go back because the dread and anticipation builds up the longer they are away. They wait for the next assault.
And they go back because there they know how the rules work instead of living in uncertainty and waiting for him to junp out from behind a corner.

And people who survive child abuse do not all grow up to be abusers. You just hear from the ones who are in prison being studied; thats called a 'self selecting survey'.
You don't hear of the ones who grow up to have a clear sense of right and wrong and just lead normal lives.
Cliches and myths just don't help anyone and they certainly don't keep women and kids safe.

Answer 5

I agree. Arrest the guilty and put them in prison; However, the 'safe rooms' are still necessary to protect the victims while police and social workers gather the evidence against the violent partner. Also, many victims run away from the violent partner and need to be put somewhere safe in case the partner comes after them. But it should be a short term solution until the violent partner can be locked away.

Answer 6

Violence against men is a crime and violence against women is a crime. If I saw someone being beaten up in the street I would be just as likely to step in and try to stop it if a woman was hitting a man or a man was hitting a woman. Domestic violence isn't justice as people don't deserve to be treated like that. xxx xx x

Answer 7

What is to stop the abuser from preventing the victim getting to the so called safe room, I think whoever thought up this idea is a complete bloody moron, I think the abuser would become more aggressive in the attempt to prevent his victim from alerting anyone to help her, and what is to prevent the abuser from getting into the so called safe room and destroying the means of communication before hand, stupid, just bloody stupid.

Answer 8

Safe Rooms - just how safe will they be? I've not heard the speech made but heard an article on the radio this morning... Are they trying to capture CCTV footage of the women being attacked so there is evidence for court and possibly sending the guys to prision. A lot of money but if it works surely it is worthwhile...

Answer 9

prevent the problem, a 911 phone call has been abused much lately not only in domestic, people use it if adog gets hit by a car an illegaly parked car and if its used for domestic and there really isnt any prosecute the caller, we understand abuse but sometimes we cry wolf too many times Merry Christmas

Answer 10

I agree with you but what happens when the guilty come out of prison again? I do think the guilty should be put away as if they have committed a murder because the fear the victim feels is terrible. No one should have to live like that.