As a community,we are looking away from what is going wrong,and we are failing to face up to what must be done. It is now obvious that our laws restricting males from stalking females (oh,and let’s get it straight – this is a male problem) are grossly inadequate. In Molly’s case,charges have only just been laid,but notwithstanding,in other cases,the existing laws have been proved to fail. They fail day after day – with fatal consequences.
Our social history tells us that when our laws are failing,we change them. Think about the Port Arthur massacre:one of the worst moments in our history was converted into something positive. We can stop bad things if we have the commitment.
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Molly’s death tells us it is time to stop the bad things and take drastic action. We need to take steps that might interfere with some civil liberties – but bad luck,frankly,I do not care.
Stronger action must be taken against men credibly accused of stalking,threatening or abusing women. History tells us that the “protection” supposedly afforded by an apprehended violence order is often no protection at all. We need to do more;we need to do things differently.
And it is urgent. The government should act now. PremierMinns has announced yet another inquiry,but that is pointless and wastes valuable time – the outcome is already obvious. The police,with some supervision by the courts,need to be given the power to control the men accused of these offences. Such control orders are already well-recognised. They are applied in many circumstances where there is only a suspicion of risk,and in the absence of a conviction – bail laws and conditions are obvious examples. In other words,it is nothing new,and it can be done.