Universal-Womens-accesss-to-justice-Publications-Practitioners-Guide-Series-2016-ENG

244 PRACTITIONERS GUIDE No. 12
imposed there should still be a minimum level of mandatory
treatment and supervisory probation of the perpetrator.
The UN Handbook points out that fines should not be imposed if
doing so will result in financial hardship for the woman subject
to violence and her children, if, for example, the perpetrator
was the spouse or partner of the woman and she is still reliant
on their assets for her own or her children’s needs. 664 The
Handbook also explains that if fines are imposed, these should
be combined with treatment and supervision of the
perpetrator. 665
Reliance on intervention programmes for perpetrators
must not put women’s safety at risk
Intervention programs for perpetrators are common methods
of dealing with perpetrators of domestic violence. In order to
ensure their effectiveness – and to avoid a false sense of
security being given to women who may still be at risk – these
programs need to be effective.
The drafting committee of the Istanbul Convention made the
following observations about the necessary requirement for
intervention programmes, which may be court-ordered as part
of sentencing or voluntary, in order for these programmes to
meet standards of best practice:
Encourages perpetrators to takes responsibility for their
actions;
Encourages perpetrators to evaluate their attitudes and
beliefs towards women;
Uses skilled facilitators, trained in psychology and
nature of domestic violence;
Uses facilitators with a range of cultural and linguistic
skills to match the perpetrators they work with;
Programmes are set up in collaborations with women’s
support services, law enforcement and probation
664
UN Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women, above
note 511, page 52.
665
Ibid.