2013 Asian Conference of Women’s SheltersAsian Network of Women's Shelter2-4 December, Taiwan

Challenges and Breakthroughs for Women’s Shelters in Asia

Using the law to combat domestic violenceIvy JosiahExecutive Director Women's Aid Organisation (WAO)www.wao.org.my ivyjosiah@gmail.com Twitter @womensaidorg @ivyjosiah

Today’s talk will be on: About Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO)

WAO’s Refuge/Shelter practice

How the law is used to combat domestic violence

WAO VIDEO  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KND9ceoeF4A “

HERSTORY August 1982 - Malaysia’s first Refuge/Shelter for

battered women and their children

• The fundamental belief of WAO: no one deserves to be battered.

• We uphold the self-dignity of every human being in our society, both men and women

31 years later… Shelter to 120 women and 145 children

Telephone counselling to over 1,000 women

Face–to–face counselling to 100 women

Child Care Centre – 30 children per year

Drop In Centre for face to face counselling

WAO’s Refuge/Shelter

practice

Guiding principles

Believe the survivors

Ensure physical safety of victims/survivors - risk assessment

Adopt a No Blame approach

Empwer women from crisis to confidence

Guiding principles Reject ideologies that excuse or justify

men’s violence

Hold perpetrators responsible for the abuse

Perpetrators can choose to stop the abuse

Overall Work – the big picture

WE are inspired by women’s lived realities to work towards gender equality and justice

11

Women in Crisis

Seek Help from WAO

WAO Social

Workers Support & Empower Women

WAO Programme

Officers Document

Cases

Identify Laws & Policies that need Reform

Lobby Government to

Eliminate Discrimination Against Women

How the law is used to combat

domestic violence

The law and domestic violence Malaysia passed its Domestic Violence

Act in 1994 after 9 years of lobbying the government

It took another 2 years before the law was implemented in June 1996

Protest by women’s groups in 1996

The law encouraged women to report

By end 1997, almost one and half years after the law was put into action in June 1996, there was a 150% increase in police reports

The Malaysian DVA applies to all members of the family including the ex spouse

Police

Reports

Domestic

Violence

Rape      

             

Incest      

       

Abuse of

Domestic

Workers

Child

Abuse      

              

Outrage

of

Modesty

(Molestati

on)

Sexual

Harassment

in the

Workplace

2000 3468 1217 213 56 146 1234 112

2001 3107 1386 246 66 150 1393 86

2002 2755 1431 306 39 123 1522 84

2003 2555 1479 254 40 119 1399 82

2004 3101 1760 334 66 148 1661 119

2005 3093 1931 295 37 189 1746 102

2006 3264 2454 332 45 141 1349 101

2007 3756 3098 360 39 196 2243 195

2008 3769 3409 334 unavailableunavailable 2131 unavailable

2009 3643 3626 385 unavailable 203 2110 unavailable

2010 3173 3595 unavailableunavailable 257 2054 unavailable

2011 3277 3301 342 78 242 1941 unavailable

2012 3488 2998 302 29 285 1803 unavailable

LAW REGULATES RIGHTS

A law validate DV survivors' experience

A law guarantees legal aid, protection and redress

A law hold perpetrators accountable

The DV law must: Prevent Protect Prosecute and investigate Punish Provide Redress

The 5 P’s of Due Diligence to Eliminate Violence Against Women

PREVENTPrevention includes measures taken by the State to stop VAW from occurring -awareness campaigns, training and education.

PROTECTProtection keeps the victim/survivor safe from present harm.  This includes avoiding the re-occurrence of further violence and ensuring the victim/survivor receives adequate and timely services.

The 5 P’s of Due Diligence to Eliminate Violence Against Women

PROSECUTE AND INVESTIGATEInvestigation and prosecution are actions taken by the Government when it knows of VAW incidences. It allows victims/survivors to take steps to try to stop VAW without fear of repercussions. 

PUNISHPunishment is something negative imposed on the perpetrator of VAW as a consequence of his/her having committed VAW.

PROVIDE REDRESSRedress is any form of compensation or reparations available to a victim/survivor of VAW. This could take different forms, from monetary compensation and apology to symbolic reparations.

A domestic violence law must not: Must Not force mediation – marriage

counseling

Must Not take away the decision from the woman

Must Not allow the perpetrator /father complete access to the children. Supervised access

3 components to the Law Substance of the law

Structure of the law

Culture of the law – attitudes of the police, the welfare, the courts, the hospital.

Tanya Brannan, Purple Berets

Working With the Police

Experiences of domestic violence complainants at the Police station Good Non judgemental

Informs her of her rights -protection orders

Asks her if she needs shelter

Gives her a number of an NGO in case she needs counselling

Bad Minimizes the

violence

Acts as marriage counsellor

Conducts little or poor investigation

The Bad Police – Plays on your fear

Do you want your husband in jail ah?

Good police response You were kept informed about the progress of the

investigation

All the witnesses are interviewed by the investigating officer

Phone calls to the investigating officer were returned in a timely manner

Felt that the investigating officer was concerned about your safety throughout the investigation

The Good Police – Cares for your safety Assessing Risk

Before the interview, investigating officer ask you if you had fears or concerns about reporting the crime or about prosecuting the perpetrator

Did the violence stop when the law intervened? Yes, in almost 70% of cases but only if

the police intervention was good

4 deaths die to domestic violence in 2013, red flags – warning signs were ignored

Legislation should

be implemented in the context of a comprehensive national action plan or strategy

provide for a budget to ensure its implementation

provide for the adoption of rules and regulations, and the creation of specialized institutions, including police, prosecutors and courts

provide for the creation of a specific institutional mechanism (eg multi-sectoral Task Force) and the collection of statistical data, including through involvement of the national statistical office

We believe that a world without domestic abuse is not just a dream, it is a possibility. Never doubt it – changing attitudes changes lives.