Women in abusive relationships are much more likely to be unemployed and to earn less money than women with non-abusive partners.
- Dean, School of Law, Deakin University
There is no specific crime of catfishing in Australia. So we have to make better use of existing laws to address this devastating behaviour.
Conviction rates for sexual offences remain low, despite legal reforms in recent years. One reason is the criminal standard of ‘reasonable doubt’ when supporting evidence may be difficult to produce.
To address low conviction rates in child sex abuse cases, reforms were made to allow juries to hear about the past sex crimes of defendants. Not all lawyers agree the changes are good.
Psychological abuse and controlling behaviours can be apparent before perpetrators murder their partners. So let’s take these coercive behaviours more seriously and make them a crime.
There are now more legally innocent people in jail in Victoria than there were convicted prisoners in 2005.
New laws in the UK have led to convictions for a range of deplorable behaviours used to control partners in relationships. It’s time Australia reconsidered introducing such legislation here.
A 69-year-old man is in jail for encouraging his wife to suicide but some have wondered why he wasn’t charged with a more serious offence.
Emoji add a sense of fun and nuance to digital communications. But where does the law stand when they’re used to suggest violence or threats?
Psychological abuse of intimate partners is a public health problem, and is not well-regulated by the law.
Whether such a verdict would be handed down in Australia remains to be seen, but there are a few things we do know about cases like this one.
The Channel 7 show Million Dollar Cold Case has seen Victoria Police dispense with the practice of not naming suspects until they are charged – a potentially fraught strategy.
Driverless cars may cut the number of traffic offences but they could open up a whole new area of litigation - who’s responsible for any crash?
Is the risk of a criminal conviction enough to deter scientists from publishing bogus research findings?
A US report has cast doubt on a range of techniques commonly used to secure criminal convictions, such as identification using bite marks, hair strands or footwear.
Recent developments in the US suggest it might be time for Australia to rethink its reliance on private prisons.
By requiring that a person acting in self-defence must act genuinely and reasonably, Australian states and territories appropriately balance self-defence against vigilantism.
As part of a strategy to eliminate violence against women, a new ad uses a series of photographs depicting young men who have assaulted their girlfriends.
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