AVOs and domestic violence. The 'dark figure' of crime and it's newsworthiness.

Domestic violence is a category of crime for which official statistics are particularly plagued by the “dark figure”. First described in the 1830s by Adolphe Quetelet, a Belgian mathematician and sociologist (Berlinski, 2009), this figure refers to the gap between the actual amount of crime and what is recorded in statistics (Goldsmith, Israel & Daly, 2006). The reason for the under-reporting to police of domestic violence can be linked to victim’s lack of confidence in the justice system, which primarily stems from the media's negative portrayal of domestic related crime.

The Partnerships Against Domestic Violence Statement of Principles agreed by the Australian Heads of Government at the 1997 National Domestic Violence Summit included the following definition:

Domestic violence is an abuse of power perpetrated mainly (but not only) by men against women both in relationship and after separation. It occurs when one partner attempts physically or psychologically to dominate and control the other. Domestic violence takes a number of forms. The most commonly acknowledged forms are physical and sexual violence, threats and intimidation, emotional and social abuse and economic deprivation. (Violence Against Women Specialist Unit & NSW Attorney General’s Department, 2003).

We can use Jewkes(2004) news values as a check list on domestic violence cases covered in the media, all of which somewhat would deter the public from reporting DV.

Jewkes list of values for the reporting of crime show the ideological lines which crime in the media is constructed. They consist of:

1. Threshold
2. Predictability
3. Simplification
4. Individualism
5. Risk
6. Sex
7. Celebrity
8. Violence
9. Spectacle
10. Children
11. Conservatism

A prime example is the case of Deanne Bridgland, a long term victim of domestic violence, who herself was charged and convicted, with 2 years gaol time, of conspiring to pervert the course of justice as she tried to help her husband and abuser in receiving a lesser charge presumably an act out of fear). This story very clearly has elements of threshold or drama, unpredictability, risk, sex, and violence. It has impeccable newsworthiness.

However, in a story by the 7:30 Report (Jill Singer (ABC), March 9 2010) the concern was raised that the case sends out the wrong message and contradicts the push to support rather than punish victims of domestic violence. (The full report can be viewed here)

If Australia is to take a step in the right direction perhaps new amendments to the current law need to be created to prevent this further victimisation of domestic violence victims as in Bridgeland’s case.

This has not been the case however, adding to the public's is when the media present stories like the following in which the government doesn’t uphold their proposed policies to improve the safety of domestic violence victims. The Family and Domestic Violence Unit in Labor’s 2007 election policy have broken their promise with only 23 of the 40 additional specially-trained police officers delivered (SMH, 2010, May 7). This can be related to the aforementioned Bridgland case (Hawke, 2010, March 9th) on which domestic violence worker Fiona Mccormack states, if women “don't have faith that the judicial system can protect them, this is when we see women withdraw their complaints… because they're in abject fear and justifiably so.”

Really the question here is would more positive presentation of cases where domestic violence has been dealt with successfully by police and agencies really made a difference to victims reporting of this sort of crime? Fact of the matter is this won't happen, because a story of a domestic violence case gone wrong hold much more newsworthiness than one with a happy ending.

References

Berlinski, C. (2009). The dark figure of British crime: Despite government reassurances, Britons feel under siege—with good reason. City Journal. Retrieved September 25th, 2010, from http://www.berlinski.com/?q=node/116

Goldsmith, A., Israel, M., & Daly, K. (2006). Crime and justice: a guide to criminology. Pyrmont, NSW: Lawbook Co.

Hawke, B. (2010, March 9th). Changes to domestic violence laws ‘don’t go far enough’. Victoria, Australia: Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved September 23rd, 2010, from http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/03/09/2841222.htm

SMH (2010, May7) NSW ‘breaks domestic violence promise’. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved September 23rd, 2010, from http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/nsw-breaks-domestic-violence-promise-20100507-uh7a.html

Violence Against Women Specialist Unit & NSW Attorney General’s Department (2003). Domestic Violence Interagency Guidelines. Retrieved September 23^rd, 2010, from, http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/vaw/dvguidelines.nsf/pages/definitions

A Love To Hide.

As academics, we are supposed to be critical of fictional media, picking at the factual flaws of how sensationalised they've created an event to be. This is of particular concern with the over-dramatisation and stereotyping of crime in all forms of mass media. However, when it comes a topic which covers such an important, and hitherto neglected subject, such as the "re-education" of homosexuals under the Nazis laws in Paris France, presentation in a hyperbolic style has what I believe to be a positive effect.

I just now viewed an amazing French movie on SBS1, 'Un amour à taire', directed by Christian Faure in 2005. Though a fictional history film, it is based on true and very confronting events, of which I found to be completely unfathomable. How could people justify torturing others to such an extent they did in the war? I sought this as an opportunity to research and reflect on definitions of crime and the law in relation to the treatment of homosexuals from WW2 to present day Australia.

We sometimes forget that in addition to what the Nazis did to Jews in the Holocaust, they also rounded up other "undesirables" including homosexual men, subjecting them to severe torture in camps. This film follows the story of a gay couple that are hiding a young Jewish woman whose family had been killed. Criminal conduct involving one of the man's brothers, who was only recently released from jail, results in one of the lover's to be discovered and homosexual and hence transferred to Dachau, a Nazi controlled camp, where he is slave driven, and experimented on via a lobotomy. I won't continue with any more of the plot line, as it will ruin the ending if by the off chance one wishes to view this film. In any case, the acts that took place in these Nazi camps were criminal in the most horrific sense imaginable, however back then they were merely following the law implemented by Hitler.

Between 1933 and 1945 laws against homosexuality were written and acted upon in Germany, also being enforced by the Third Reich in all Nazi controlled countries during Hitler’s rein. As a result of these legal enactment, there was, on average, 10,000 convictions per year for homosexuality during the Nazi era, that 120,000 over 12 years (Katz, 1989). Under Paragraph 175 of the German penal code convicted homosexuals could be taken to concentration camps where they would be “re-educated”, however of the approximate 10,000 of those arrested that actually ended up in camps, 60 percent of them died before the war and their re-education was over (Katz). Their is believed to be only one Pink Triangle (the symbol on homosexuals prisoner uniforms) still alive today that survived the Nazi concentration camps, Rudolf Brazada (view interview).

Morris and Hawkins argue that 'the prime function of the criminal law is to protect our persons and our property', and that it is 'improper, impolitic, and usually socially harmful for the law to intervene or attempt to regulate the private moral conduct of the citizen' (1970). Shockingly however the decriminalisation of homosexual acts is an extremely recent reform in Australia. In 1972 South Australia became the first Australian jurisdiction to decriminalise some homosexual acts, with further reforms in 1975 and 1976 to their Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Amendment Act. The Australian Capital Territory followed respectively in 1976 with the Law Reform (Sexual Behaviour) Ordinance, then Victoria in 1980, and the Northern Territory in 1983. Legislation in New South Wales to legalise consensual homosexual acts between men was implemented in the Crimes (Amendment) Act of 1984. Following suit was Western Australia with their Reform (Decriminalisation of Sodomy) Act in 1989, and Queensland just 20 years ago made amendments. (Bull, Pinto & Wilson, 1991). In 1997 Tasmania became the last Australian state to decriminalise sex between consenting adult men in private (Croome, 2006).

Sadly these recent reforms in Australia and others world wide have done little to stop the general public’s negative opinions and actions towards the gay community. For example just this September, yet another life lost over the shame that society puts on being a gay male…

According to US news reports, Clementi (just 18yrs old), a talented violinist, was secretly filmed by his roommate, Dharun Ravi, while kissing another man. The film was allegedly broadcast live from a webcam, then shared on the iChat network. Three days later, on September 22, Clementi posted on his Facebook page: "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry." That same evening he jumped off the soaring George Washington Bridge, which connects New York City to New Jersey, and into the Hudson River…
Anti-bullying advocate Jowharah Sanders said Clementi was one of at least four teenagers who committed suicide across the United States in September after gay-related harassment. The others were a 15-year-old who hanged himself in Indiana, a 13-year-old who shot himself in Texas, and just this week another 13-year-old who died in hospital in California days after hanging himself. (Smith, 2010).

(Full story here: US students held over classmate's death)

If films like 'Un amour à taire' were more mainstream, and generations began to be educated on such issues, we could stop this form homophobic behaviour, and change the attitudes thus protecting future generations from history being repeated. The bottom line is religion, race, and sexual preference aside, we're all just the same: human. The world forgets that sometimes I guess.

References

Bull, M., Pinto, S. & Wilson, P. (1991) No.29 Homosexual law reform in Australia. Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice. Australian Institute of Criminology: Canberra, ACT, Australia.

Croome, R. (2006). Gay Law Reform. In The Companion to Tasmanian History. Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, University of Tasmania: Australia.

Katz, S. T. (1989). Quantity and interpretation – issues in the comparative historical analysis of the holocaust. Holocaust & Genocide Studies, 4(2), 127-148.

Morris, N. & Hawkins, G. (1970) The Hones Politician’s Guide to Crime Control. The University of Chicago Press.

Smith, S. (2010, October 1). US students held over classmate's death. Retrieved October 17, 2010: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/us-students-held-over-classmates-death-20101001-15zl5.html

Sticks and stones can break your bones but words can never hurt you. Wrong.

Pt.3 Cybercrime.

While the golden rule is supposed to be something along the lines of ‘don’t always believe what you see on television’, I believe in some cases fictional crime shows can expose a very real problems in today’s society. While we cannot award cause and effect to crime or the media, anyone can see there is a clear correlation between the two. Within the past two decades we’ve seen a massive rise is cybercrime as the internet has soared to prolific status as a form of communication. Not only the news media, but also fictional media, such as film and television programs, are a reflection of this escalation in cybercrime. Of particular prominence in the media is the subject of cyberbulling. The fourfold categorisation of computer related crime (Wall, 1999) classes this as cyber violence, or cyber stalking, “the continued harassment of a victim via the internet and through emails” (Marsh & Melville, 2009)

In the TV crime drama, Law & Order, the ‘Babes’ episode (s10e6) tells of a murder that leads Detective Stabler and Benson to a group of high school girls who have a made a pregnancy pact, alongside their boyfriends who have made a chastity circle. Witnessed is an inter-tangled web of lies, abuse, and online threats, which ultimately lead to the suicide of a number of the girls.

This program managed to illustrate, though in a sensationalised manner, a storyline not so fictional.

In one of the first cyber bullying cases to come before a Victorian court, young Gerada was convicted of one count of stalking but avoided a jail term. Gerada had sent his former friend 5 threatening text messages just hours before he jumped to his death from Melbourne's West Gate Bridge on February 5, 2009 (SMH, 2010, April 8) (Full story here)

The main problem is cyberbulling has no limit. As Jessica Maher (2010, May 31) explains, "At least if you are being bullied at your school you can go home and get away from it, but with cyber bullying you are getting things on your phone, your computer, often offensive photos - it's never ending." It has been found that bullying can have a long last effect on health and well-being, as well as performance in school (Patty, 2009).

Cyber bullying poses as difficult problem to control and eradicate. Currently there are no specific laws to tackle bullying in school, however serious cases may come under such as criminal offences as stalking or intimidation. However is dealing with these kids as criminals really going to make the problem better?

References

Mahar, J. (2010, May 31). Time to tackle cyber bullies. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from, http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/time-to-tackle-cyber-bullies-20100530-wnj3.html

Marsh, I. & Melville, G. (2009). Crime Justice and the Media. Routledge: New York.

Patty, A. (2009). Inquiry finds rise in cyber bullying. Retrieved October 2, 2010, from http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/inquiry-finds-rise-in-cyber-bullying-20091112-icg4.html

SMH (2010, April 8). Magistrate slams cyber bully. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from, http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/magistrate-slams-cyber-bullies-20100408-ru23.html

Wall, D. S. (1999). Cybercrimes: New Wine, no Bottle?, in Davies, P., Francis, P., & Jupp, V. (eds), Invisible Crimes: Their Victims and their Regulation of Cyberspace. Criminal Law Review, December, 79-91.

How To Catch a Predator.

Pt.2 Cybercrime

'Cyber obscenity' is the most difficult to measure of Hall’s four fold categorisation of computer crime (1999, in tb). It refers to the production and trading of sexually explicit material, essentially of concern, in the form of paedophilia. Internet paedophilia can be displayed on one of two levels; firstly information through sharing and swapping of child pornography, or access information about individual children, and secondly taking part in paedophilic activities such as viewing illicit material, and more disturbing grooming children (Marsh & Melville, 2009). “The rich diversity in thresholds of tolerance around the world, combined with the global reach of telecommunications, make the control of offensive content a particularly difficult regulatory challenge” (Smith & Grabosky, 2006, in tb).

Younger generations need to realise the world wide web is filled with sexual e-predators like Zimmerman, this is illustrated and somewhat played upon in NBC's Dateline "To Catch A Predator" with Chris Hansen. This reality television show features a series of hidden camera investigations to identify and detain those who seek out children under the age of consent on the internet for sexual liaisons. These predators are lured via chat rooms to meet with a decoy under the pretence of sexual contact as can be seen in this short video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnyXHkWJJXI

The Dateline team produced this show based upon an undercover sting operation by Perverted Justice, who describe themselves as "the largest and best anti-predator organisation online." They have performed sting after sting in various locations, with the help of Dateline and law enforcement agencies. Here are just a few of the results:

Riverside, California: 51 predators in three days.
Laguna Beach, California: 13 predators in a mere 11 hours.
Darke County, Ohio: 17 predators in three days.
Fort Myers, Florida: 24 predators in three days.
Harris County, Georgia: 20 predators in four days.
Petaluma, California: 29 predators in three days.
Long Beach, California: 38 predators in three days
Flagler Beach, Florida: 24 predators in three days
Ocean County, New Jersey: 29 predators in three days.

To date, the number of predators convicted due to Perverted-Justice.com since June 2004 is 514!




References


Barker, G. (2010, July 15). Cybercrime in your Facebook. Retrieved October 1, 2010: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/cybercrime-in-your-facebook-20100715-10bvo.html

Marsh, I. & Melville, G. (2009) Crime Justice and The Media. Routledge: New York.

O'Rourke, J. (2010, October 3). Facebook 'frenemies' most likely to hurt kids. The Sun-Herald.