Domestic Violence Legislation and its Implementation

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY XIV • Complaints mechanisms should be easily accessible, provide immediate protection to the complainant and ensure access to support services. Pre-litigation measures should aim to immediately stop violence. • Emergency orders should be available prior to the issuance of a court order to immediately prevent future acts of violence. • Access to information on rights and assistance to initiate legal processes are essential to facilitating access to justice. • Assisted alternative dispute resolutions at the pre- and post-litigation stages should be attempted only if there is a guarantee of non-violence. • Pre-litigation mediation should not impede access to the courts or court ordered remedies and, to avoid bias in the event of a settlement, should not be conducted by courts. Postlitigation mediation should be conducted by authorized professional bodies or individuals. • In court proceedings, it is advisable to elaborate on reliefs available under the law to aid to judges in deciding the nature of orders to be granted. • Providing timelines for disposing complaints and applications fi led under the laws will ensure speedy processes. • Making the violation of court orders a punishable offence will aid their enforcement. • Laws should mandate institutionalized, regular training and education of police offi cers, prosecutors, judiciary, social workers and public offi cials in protecting survivors of domestic violence and preventing further acts of violence. • Public awareness campaigns on violence against women are an important measure to eliminate violence and change social attitudes. • Monitoring the implementation of domestic violence laws is essential to ensuring effective implementation. It is advisable for states to incorporate such provisions into the law. 37. While ASEAN countries have made progress in addressing domestic violence though their public policies, there is still an urgent need to implement Domestic Violence Response Systems in the region. The Domestic Violence Response System must be understood from the perspective that a woman facing violence in intimate relationships is in need, not only of legal remedies, but of a multiplicity of services that provide her a support system. A clear focus on the woman and her safety must be the foundation of any good practice initiative. 38. Various approaches and practices have been initiated and tested throughout the world. There is no one “most effective” approach, as all of them are effective in the specifi c contexts of the communities. The best strategy to address the issue of domestic violence is to combine two or more of the approaches on the basis of the country’s requirements and context. As the good practices discussed in this publication show, these coordinated response systems should be focused on the quality of the response provided to women survivors of domestic violence rather than focusing exclusively on coordination between agencies. It is also advisable to do periodic review and evaluation exercises so that the systems can be improved. Questions like whether the system is responding to the needs of women, how many women are using the system, and what are its crucial and perceived benefi ts need to be asked.
INTRODUCTION DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LEGISLATION AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION The issue of domestic violence has emerged as one of the primary public policy concerns in countries around the world. Countries in the ASEAN region have embarked on important initiatives in order to address the issue of domestic violence. It is in this context that sharing “good practices” and discussing comparative perspectives from initiatives around the world has provided recommendations and a template for developing common regional standards, reiterating that there is no impunity for violence. With the objective of comparing initiatives and good practices from around the world, the following research papers International Standards on Domestic Violence Legislation and Overview of Global Good Practices on Domestic Violence Response Systems were prepared by the Lawyers Collective Women’s Rights Initiative, India for UNIFEM East and Southeast Asia Regional Offi ce. These papers were presented at the ASEAN Regional Conference on Domestic Violence Legislation in Hanoi by International Expert Ms Indira Jaising, CEDAW Committee Member and Director of the Lawyers Collective Women’s Rights Initiative. The ASEAN Regional Conference was organised by ASEAN and UNIFEM (now part of UN Women) and hosted by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam on 20 - 21 October 2008. This regional conference brought together representatives from 10 ASEAN countries, from national women’s machineries, Ministries of Justice, Ministries of Health and civil society groups that provide services and advocate on issues of violence against women. The aim of the conference was to review ASEAN countries’ domestic violence legislation from the perspective of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Representatives shared experiences of government responses to domestic violence to learn from global good practices that are compliant with international human rights standards. The fi rst paper, International Standards on Domestic Violence Legislation examines the international legislative framework on domestic violence, looking into equality provisions in international law and standards of obligations for state parties in dealing with domestic violence as a human rights violation. It explains the CEDAW framework and the UN framework for model on domestic violence legislation as standards followed by all domestic laws on domestic violence. In its second part, it takes an in-depth look at domestic violence legislation in the ASEAN region, from commitment to equality, legal remedies and support services, training and monitoring of implementation. The second paper, Overview of Global Good Practices on Domestic Violence Response Systems is based on the premise that there is a need for a coordinated response to domestic violence. It discusses various approaches to domestic violence and highlights the good practices from around the world - innovative approaches that have worked. XV
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