The Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner, Micaela Cronin, says increasingly punitive approaches to youth justice undermine our efforts to end domestic, family and sexual violence.
Commissioner Cronin this morning provided a keynote address at the Healing and Recovery Alliance’s Conference in Brisbane, where she highlighted that children and young people involved in the youth justice system need support to heal from the harm that has been done to them, not to have that harm reinforced by the criminal justice system.
“Evidence consistently shows that many children in the youth justice system have experienced serious harm, including domestic, family and sexual violence,” Commissioner Cronin said.
“A system that responds to trauma with punishment does not reduce harm, it compounds it. We need a trauma-informed approach to youth justice that addresses the harm these young people have often experienced themselves.
“Punitive approaches to youth justice actively undermine our efforts to end domestic, family and sexual violence in a generation.
“If we are serious about ending domestic, family and sexual violence, we cannot treat youth justice as separate from that task.”
While acknowledging the harm that young people in the youth justice system have cause, the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence (DFSV) Commission views supporting traumatised children and young people to heal not as the soft option, but as a central component of the long-term prevention of domestic, family and sexual violence.
The DFSV Commission remains committed to working with all governments to incorporate these approaches into practice.
Read the full address
Media contact
Luke Ablett
+61 455 176 298
media@dfsvc.gov.au
If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, chat online via www.1800respect.org.au or text 0458 737 732.
If you are concerned about your behaviour or use of violence, you can contact the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or visit www.ntv.org.au
MensLine Australia Services are available if you are concerned about your wellbeing, relationships, and behaviour on 1300 789 978 or by visiting www.mensline.org.au
Feeling worried or no good? No shame, no judgement, safe place to yarn. Speak to a 13YARN Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander Crisis Supporter, call 13 92 76. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
