The federal laws very desperately need to change.
Eleanor* knew a custody dispute over her three children with her former partner in the Family Court was going to be difficult.
But she had no idea she would be cross-examined by the man who raped and beat her over the course of their 11-year relationship.
It wasn’t until she turned up to court on the day she was to give evidence that she learned he had dismissed his lawyer and was representing himself.
Unlike the criminal courts, the Family Court – which comes under the federal jurisdiction – does not protect victims of domestic violence from being cross-examined by their abusive ex-partners.
Top Comments
I'am currently going through court proceedings with my abusive ex and yes he also is representing himself as he fired his lawyer. I can not believe how the law lets this happen, I'm so shocked at the amount of information he has on me and has managed to get on me, I am considering requesting another AVO just so that he does not find out where i am currently living as hes managed to obtain all my other addresses i use to live at.
I watched a Law and Order SVU episode recently where a woman's rapist represented himself in court and cross-examined her. It was a horrendous episode that made me feel ill, compounded by the fact that she fell pregnant as a result of the rape and then her attacker was awarded visitation rights. It was that difficult to watch as a fictional TV show, I cannot fathom that this actually happens in real life.