The New Family Law Act: Family Violence Has an Impact
The New Family Law Act is really blowing my mind. I just checked to confirm that I was right about this and I was. The current Family Relations Act does not even define family violence or mention it. The new Family Law Act not only defines it, but gives it an expansive definition.
I took a course years ago when I did my master’s degree in sociology about violence. It demonstrated that violence has a broad or narrow meaning. The narrow meaning refers to physical force such as a punch in the face. The free online dictionary by Farlex defines it as: Physical force exerted for the purpose of violating, damaging, or abusing.
But is violence not more than physical force? It appears that our legislators agree.
Not only does the new Family Law Act define family violence but it also gives a broad definition as to what violence includes.
The new Family Law Act defines family violence as follows:
“family violence” includes
(a) physical abuse of a family member, including forced confinement or deprivation of the necessities of life, but not including the use of reasonable force to protect oneself or others from harm,
(b) sexual abuse of a family member,
(c) attempts to physically or sexually abuse a family member,
(d) psychological or emotional abuse of a family member, including
(i) intimidation, harassment, coercion or threats, including threats respecting other persons, pets or property,
(ii) unreasonable restrictions on, or prevention of, a family member’s financial or personal autonomy,
(iii) stalking or following of the family member, and
(iv) intentional damage to property, and
(e) in the case of a child, direct or indirect exposure to family violence;
As a family law lawyer, one of the huge struggles I have often had is to demonstrate in parenting disputes, how family violence impacts children. Often we have situations where a spouse was abusive and controlling around the children but not to the children. For some reason, this has meant that the abuse and control was often considered not so serious by the courts when determining what was in the best interests of a child.
I have always believed the exposure of a child to violence in their family life is profound.
This legislation will have an impact in how the courts see family violence and it will impact decisions for families where family violence has been a way of life. This will ultimately have an impact on decisions regarding which parent in a parenting dispute can handle the responsibility of parenting. Ultimately, because it makes family violence count, children will have a greater likelihood of being raised in homes where a parent understands the impact and does not use bullying, coercion, threats, or hitting to get their way. This can only be a good thing for the future of our society.
It is also exciting that the legislation recognizes that violence is not simply physical, but that it includes other serious behaviors, all of which have a significant impact on the well-being of children.
This is a significant step in demonstrating to our children that there is a better way.
Written by Val Hemminger
