Domestic violence leave

Bob Hawke?
Bob Brown?
Bob Downe?

Maybe just Bayview's uncle?

 

One of the problems is that the support network is not common knowledge. Many women don't leave because they think they have nowhere to go. Women's shelters are largely hidden ( and of course they need to be) but women in need don't know about them.

Rather than the media saying "if you know anybody in need, they can ring 1800 xxx xxx ". The message needs to be shown that there are female police officers at most stations who will assist. And local shelter to go to.

Many women will not press charges because if the cops are involved they know they will get a bigger flogging later They resist going to friends or family's home because the Ex will do damage to that family as well

Maybe there needs to be some Home & Away and Neighbours episodes that shows the system at work. Of course I realise that "the system" is vastly overworked and under utilised.

 

South Australia is thinking of introducing disclosure laws similar to those in the UK. A woman (or man) concerned about a partner's violent past can access the records of the partner to see whether he/she has a record. No Cookies | The Advertiser

 

The support network could, and should be any/all friends of the 'victim'. Sadly, the 'perp' tries to isolate the victim from their network. There seems to be a lot of looking the other way when it comes to violence.

We now teach our kids that if the first person they speak to doesn't believe they've been abused they should keep going till they find someone who believes them. DV needs the same cultural shift.

I believe most jurisdictions will provide an officer of gender of the victims choice. Not sure how clearly that is explained. Probably poorly.

 

Could a bloke get time off for being constantly verbally abused by his wife (quite common) ? Probably not.
Personally, this is something I witness far, far more than the man being the abuser.

 

Are you in fear of your life when this happens?

 

Bill Shorten.

I arrived at that after one day loosely associating his name as similar to Billy Bob Thornton the actor.

Bill Shorten - Bill Thornton. Billy Bob.

Hence; I now like to call him Billy Bob.

It's derogatory, of course.

 

Now, now Geoffrey; no need to get personal.

You don't know me very well if you think I am similar in mindset to Bill Shorten.

For example; He's ex-Union, I'm pro-Employer. He's Labor, I'm Liberal. He's really unpopular; I'm spectacularly loved (maybe that bit is innacurate ). He's slimy, I'm honest.

Divulge those "few things" if you wish; I'm a big boy.

 

I think it is pointless having specific domestic violence leave - the employer has no right and no need to know why a person is taking a day off. My workplace recently got on board with that, and scrapped carers leave, sick leave, etc, and put it all under one label of personal leave. That is all they need to know.

It also detracts from actual progress. "Something needs to be done!", "I've done something, YAY!" without achieving anything.

Cheers,
Inertia.

 

Do you still get as many days as you were previously entitled to (with some adjustment to calculations to the rarer days off)? Or does it all fall under the same number of sick days?
Curious whether it's a "fair " number or number that benefits the employer

 

A male would never take the leave for fear of being ridiculed by his peers. I bet females would feel too embarrassed to as well.

Additional leave therefore doesn't solve the problem. There really needs to be more support for both genders, preferably anonymously.

 

Agree. It is only going to cause more problems than it solves, and could cost lots of jobs into the bargain.

 

I won't comment on the merit of the policy but... It's announcement has certainly got people talking about an often swept under the carpet issue, which has to be a good thing.

OT, but on topic of leave usage... Decades ago I worked for Coke. Before I started there they had recently introduced unlimited sick leave; not sure if they still have it. Of course some people abused it (there was one girl we called 4DM - 4 day a week Mellisa), but they found the average sick leave per person per year dropped. I guess people didn't feel sick leave was there to be used as additional annual leave and people didn't have the mentality of wanting use all accrued sick leave before quitting.

 

Domestic Violence is a huge problem.

This proposed policy is not an effective means of challenging the somewhat entrenched mentality of it.

It's like saying, we have a drink driving culture in this country. To combat it, if a drunk driver runs in to you, you can take the next day off.

The focus should be on education and enforcement. Providing safe spaces for victims to go. Reinstating funding to shelters. Not in giving people a day off work.

 

We get the same entitlement for days off - they just grouped them under a single label instead of breaking them up into specific categories.

Cheers,
Inertia

 

I think people are underestimating the chaos DV causes. Especially for people who need to leave home abruptly, recieve medical attention, find somewhere to live, support children, access financial and legal support and liaise with police, schools, social workers and centrelink, all while hiding and healing from abuse. Are we really begrudging someone a few days off work to get them and the kids safe and sort out somewhere to live?

The most dangerous time for a victim of DV is when they decide to leave. anything that makes that transition safer, easier or less stressfull is an improvement.

Meanwhile, i think @Bayview is completely catastrophising the economic impact of this policy.