EDITORIAL: Victim blaming is simply a cruel distortion

It flies in the face of everything the 16 Days in WA campaign stands for.

That victim-survivors deserve to be heard. That victim-survivors should be treated with respect. That we should believe victim-survivors. That the small percentage of victim-survivors who decide to engage the justice system, shouldn’t be the ones on trial.

Instead, a victim of a shocking domestic violence attack that was captured on CCTV in March 5 last year, has been described by Magistrate Robert Young as “petulant, volatile, confrontational, defensive and disrespectful”.

Mr Young said he was so unimpressed by the victim’s demeanour that he would be inclined not to “accept her evidence unless it were corroborated by other evidence”.

The video evidence showed her then-boyfriend Ryan Michael Tucker punching her in the head twice.

Tucker was charged with aggravated assault causing bodily harm and faced a sentence of up to two years but walked away from court with a fine.

Mr Young described the victim’s facial injuries as “relatively superficial” and deemed the perpetrator was “otherwise a functional and intelligent person”.

Mr Young’s words, which were unearthed as part of an investigation by 7NEWS and revealed in the midst of the 16 Days in WA domestic and family violence awareness campaign, were met with widespread condemnation.

On Monday, Premier Roger Cook said the victim deserved to “have her voice heard and to be treated with respect”.

By Tuesday, he urged Chief Justice Peter Quinlan to “call in” the magistrate.

“That language is completely regrettable, and I don’t think it passes the pub test,” Mr Cook said.

Dr Alison Evans, CEO Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing, said Mr Young’s words “highlight the conscious and unconscious bias victim-survivors face every day in their struggle to be believed”.

“It’s vital that all areas of the family and domestic violence system, including magistrates, judges and police, are aware that men who choose to use violence don’t always present as someone capable of inflicting terror,” Dr Evans said.

Women’s Legal chief executive Dr Jennie Gray said a “victim-survivor of family violence who doesn’t present as submissive and compliant is often much more harshly judged.”

She called for more “education” for magistrates and judges to address these stereotypes of how we think female victim-survivors should behave.

Phillip Ripper, CEO of No To Violence, an organisation working with male perpetrators to change their behaviour — said cases like these undermine “victim-survivor’s trust in the entire justice system”, calling it a “classic case of victim-blaming.”

For victim-survivors, Mr Young’s words represent what they fear might happen if take their fight to court.

That they might be the ones who end up being blamed and shamed and only believed if there is video evidence to back up their claims.

Family or DV helpline 1800 737 732

Women’s DV helpline 1800 007 339

Men’s DV helpline 1800 000 599