Ethics Law And Justice Essay

Justice for Family Abuse Victims

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Justice for Family Abuse Victims

Introduction

There are number of challenges that are faced by the victims of the domestic violence over the period of time. The major challenge that they face is there is always going to be this mental barrier that is going to be kept in mind when such situation is faced. The key thing for these victims though is to make sure that they stand up for themselves and come forward with a collective action as far as the way these things can be controlled, and the situation can be improved. If there is an instance that these cases are not reported, then it is fair to assume that the perpetuators of the violence would carry on doing these things and thus there is a need for the combined effort to combat these crimes. In this paper, it is going to be seen what some of the legal options are that are available for these people at the broader level.

Discussion

The first thing that has to be kept in mind if one intends to report the crime is that the police is going to be creating an official record of the crime and this would lead towards investigation. If the investigation officers find out that there is clear evidence in terms of the way specific suspects are being found out, then the suspect is likely to be arrested and the citation for the perpetuator might be raised as they have to appear into the court of the law. During the legal proceedings the prosecutor is going to examine the underlying evidences that are available. After the determination and assessment of the evidences, the next thing that is going to be done is that how the information is going to be requested with regards to the progress of the case.

Legal Proceedings in the Court

Once the verdict has been established in the case and the plea agreement has been reached, the judge is going to be setting up the date for the hearing of the case. This is where the victim has the option that they can submit the victim impact statement. This statement goes to define the nature of the crime and how the crime has affected the person. The judge in the given instance is going to be considering the statement in this case and based on that statement, counter argument and other corresponding legal procedure, the date for deciding of the sentence is going to be there. Now, it has to be noted during that during the course of the legal proceedings, there is all the likelihood that the sentences are going to be varying from one victim to the another. The laws of the jurisdiction as well as the nature of the crime plays an important role during the course of the whole situation. The jail term and the way intervention plan are going to be turning out is also an important element in the legal proceedings. The important thing though is that with the advent of the increase in the cases of the family violence, there is sufficient attention being gained about these cases and how they tend to turn out. Typical sentences include probation, time in jail or prison, or time already served. Sometimes offenders are ordered to seek counseling or participate in intervention programs for battering, substance abuse, or other crime-related behavior problems.

Going for the Civil justice System

Another option that the legal experts suggest for the victims of the crime is that how they civil justice system can be setup to make sure that the corresponding investigation for the crime can be carried out in the right manner. The basic idea behind the civil law suit is to make sure that the perpetuator and the other people would be taking some responsibility for the crime at the time at which it has happened. The goal of the civil suit is to make sure that the defendants in the case are going to be liable in case if the crime is committed or the instance it has been allowed to happen at the particular point of time. There is another likelihood that the person who has suffered the abuse from the family would have to hire an attorney and if that is the case, then it is a significant cost. The goal of a civil suit is to hold defendants "liable" (accountable) for committing the crime or allowing it to happen. One will need to hire an attorney. (Many attorneys will take a civil case on a "contingency" basis: they agree to be paid a percentage of any financial awards that may be granted.) Attorney will decide if there is enough proof to take the case to court. If one win their case, the court will order the defendant to pay you a specific amount of money. Victims often use civil justice awards to pay for services they need, such as medical care, counseling, or repairing or replacing property.

Resource to Help the Victim

It has to be noted that the criminal prospection and the filing of the case is something that is quite cost extensive as well as traumatic for the person specially if the family is involved. The good thing that just about every state at the moment has a victim compensation and that compensation goes to make sure the concerns and some of the issues of the victims are being sorted out. The victim support is not limited to the monetary compensation, but effort is being made to make sure that the mental and the emotional wellbeing of the victim is also being taken are off at that point of time. Now, there has been instances in the past where people have opted for multiple sources of funding and duped the law enforcement agencies, and if that is the case, the provision for the compensation is that the victim is supposed to be compensated from one source only at the particular point of time.

Provision of Shelter Services

There are many communities that are working at the moment in Australia that are offering shelter and healthcare services to the victims. The reasons that it is an important service is that at times, the victims are being abused from their guardians as well, and when that happens, the case becomes complicated in a sense that the they cannot stay with people against whom they have started a legal battle. This is where these shelters play an important role in the rehabilitation of the victim as they provide them with adequate housing, but healthcare solutions are also provided to them.

Counselling and Support Groups

To make sure that the people are able to get through the counselling and the support group sessions in an appropriate manner, these services allow the victim to get through the trauma and mental anxiety during the case.

Conclusion

In the hindsight, it can be said that the support groups and the counselling might go a long way towards making sure that the victims have the right sort of information at their disposal when lodging a case. In Australia, the good thing is that there is adequate support available for the victim and due to the strong support system, the instances where people have actually come forwarded and reported the crime have increased with the passage of time.

References

Helfer, R. E., & Kempe, C. H. (Eds.). (2016). Child abuse and neglect: The family and the community. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Company.

Lew, M., & Bass, E. (2018). Victims no longer: Men recovering from incest and other sexual child abuse. Perennial Library.

MacFarlane, K., Waterman, J., Conerly, S., Damon, L., Durfee, M., & Long, S. (2016). Sexual abuse of young children. New York: Guilford Press.

Pagelow, M. D. (2013). Justice for victims of spouse abuse in divorce and child custody cases. Violence and victims, 8(1), 69.