Charities that deal with domestic abuse backed a call from a judge to strengthen penalties against the culprits.

The Women’s Resource Centre and the Centre Against Abuse said increasing the maximum sentence for assault in proven cases of domestic violence could help to break the cycle of abuse suffered by some men and women.

Juanae Crockwell, the executive director of the Women's Resource Centre, said: “While higher sentences in isolation will not decrease the occurrence of domestic abuse, it will make a huge impact on the experience of survivors and hopefully serve as a measurable deterrent for abusers inclined to reoffend.

“Domestic abuse rarely happens in isolation. It generally takes a victim of abuse seven attempts to successfully leave the relationship.

“This is a part of the cycle of abuse and the pattern of coercive and psychological control that defines domestic abuse. That cycle may include physical and sexual violence, threats, insults and economic deprivation, among other forms of emotional abuse over time.

“As such, when a matter appears before our courts, there are usually several earlier instances of abuse that went unreported or unprosecuted.”

Laurie Shiell, the executive director of the Centre Against Abuse, said the charity would like to see the introduction of a Domestic Abuse Act, which would operate as umbrella legislation tackling how these cases were managed.

She explained: “Right now we have the Domestic Violence (Protection Orders) Act 1997, which is limited to giving protection orders, and that needs to be improved in that it only speaks to protection orders for up to a maximum of 12 months.

“If you are dealing with an extremely violent person with a history of violence, they should definitely be given more time.”

Ms Shiell added that in many cases, people found to be in breach of protection orders were repeatedly granted bail.

“We need something that is more significant that protects the victim, but also provides something for the abuser,” she said.

“That way it’s not just telling them to stay away from a person, but that perhaps they need to be placed in a course so that this doesn’t go on happening to others.”

Ms Shiell added that the Criminal Code Act was originally penned in 1907 and, while it was repeatedly amended, both it and the Domestic Violence (Protection Orders) Act do not fully consider the impact of technology on abuse.

“Abusers may have photographs or videos and all of these things, and that didn’t happen in 1907, or even in 1997,” she said.

“All of these things have now come about and we need to be able to consider all of this.”

In a written judgment released earlier this week related to the murder conviction of Kamal Worrell — who was sentenced to life behind bars for the murder of Chavelle Dillon-Burgess — Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe urged legislators to consider increasing sentencing tariffs for common assault cases linked to domestic violence.

“Often in domestic abuse cases, there are multiple incidents of assault which involve varying forces of pushing, shoving, grabbing and dragging, but they often fall short of the person sustaining identifiable physical injuries,” Mr Justice Wolffe wrote. “Most assuredly they would have suffered grave psychological injury.

“It should be that where the prosecution are able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that the common assaults inflicted by an accused person on their victim constituted a history of domestic violence, then a sentence higher than 12 months could be meted out.

“Until such legislative changes are made then perpetrators of domestic violence will continue to victimise with impunity.”

Ms Crockwell said the comments reflected an understanding about the cycle of abuse that was too often absent in the judicial process, while Ms Shiell said that Mr Justice Wolffe had “hit the nail on the head”.

“You can see the push and pull in the case of Worrell and Chavelle,” she said. “Chavelle was making police reports and then pulling them back.

“They make promises. They say what the victim wants to hear. They use verbiage that will hit the heart of the victim. They know what buttons to push to get the victim closer.”

Ms Shiell said the CAA had seen a “major increase” in requests for assistance, but said that it may be linked to increased awareness of the services offered to victims in the wake of the Worrell trial.

The Centre Against Abuse provides support services to adult survivors of intimate partner abuse and sexual assault including counselling, the 24-hour hotline 292-4366, legal advocacy, safe housing alternatives, crisis intervention, and awareness and education on these topics.

The Women’s Resource Centre can be contacted on 295-3882 and provides counselling, education, support and referrals. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.