オーストラリア警察、ＤＶの一斉捜査で５５４人逮捕・訴追

【シドニーＡＦＰ＝時事】オーストラリア・ニューサウスウェールズ州の警察は２０日、このほど行われた４日間にわたる一斉捜査で、ドメスティック・バイオレンス（ＤＶ）の容疑者５５４人を逮捕・訴追したと発表した。（写真は、シドニーのＤＶ被害者女性用避難施設「ルーズ・プレース」内のボードに貼り付けられたメッセージ）
　州警察によると、中には、踏みつけられてろっ骨を折られたり、顔や腎臓を負傷させられたりしたケースもあった。
　オーストラリアでは今年すでに２８人の女性が暴力を受け死亡している。これは平均で４日に１人が命を落としている計算となり、昨年の同時期に記録された１４人から倍増した。シドニー・ボンダイの商業施設で先月起きた事件では、女性５人が刺殺された。同国では、こうした女性を標的にした凶悪事件が相次ぎ、性別に基づく暴力やＤＶの問題に注目が集まっている。
　一連の事件を受け、アンソニー・アルバニージー首相は「国家的危機」だと述べ、ＤＶ加害者から避難する女性への助成を拡充すると発表した。
　豪政府の統計によると、親密なパートナーによる暴力（ＩＰＶ）で命を落とす人の数は過去３０年で下降傾向にある。
　また２０２３年の経済協力開発機構（ＯＥＣＤ）のデータでは、オーストラリアの女性が「一生の間に親密な関係のパートナーから暴力に遭う可能性」は、他のＯＥＣＤ加盟国の平均よりも低い。カナダ、米国、英国は、いずれもオーストラリアの数字を上回っている。
　シドニーのＤＶ被害者女性用避難施設（シェルター）「ルーズ・プレース」の責任者は、生活費の高騰、住宅およびシェルター不足といった理由から、女性たちは暴力を振るう相手との生活を続けざるを得ない状況に置かれてしまっているとし、またこうした状況が死者数の増加に寄与している可能性も指摘した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/05/20-19:17）

Police in Australia's most populous state announced Monday they had arrested and charged 554 domestic violence suspects in a four-day operation, as the country reckons with a series of high-profile attacks on women.
New South Wales police said some of the worst domestic violence offenders in the state had been rounded up, including one man who allegedly stamped on a woman, causing fractured ribs, facial injuries and a bruised kidney.
The arrests come as Australia grapples with the violent deaths of 28 women this year--an average of one death every four days. Only 14 women died in violent incidents during the same period last year.
A series of high-profile attacks on women -- including the stabbing of five women at a Bondi mall -- have thrown the focus on gender-based and domestic violence.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called it a national crisis, while announcing measures to curb deepfake pornography and increase funding for women fleeing abusive relationships.
Intimate partner homicides have gradually declined in the past 30 years, data from the Australian government shows.
And Australia's domestic violence prevalence rate still remains below the OECD average -- lower than that of Canada, the United States and Britain, according to 2023 data.
But domestic violence services have long warned more needs to be done.
Curtin University expert Donna Chung said the system is designed so that victims can often only get help once something bad happens.
Even then the system is flawed, and domestic violence perpetrators can continue to offend, she said.
- 'Scared to take a step' -
Michelle, one of the roughly 70 women a day who use Lou's Place, Sydney's only daytime domestic violence shelter, fled Melbourne after being abused by her ex-husband and his family.
She said she was not allowed to leave the house and was forced to withdraw from her schooling.
They used me and they terrified me, she told AFP.
Michelle, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym, described a difficult path to safety -- first making the decision to leave, and then facing hurdles finding somewhere safe to go.
I have seen many women, and even I was one of them, they're very scared to take a step (and escape), she said. It's hard to find the place you feel safe.
After failing to gain access to other domestic violence services, she found Lou's Place and is now training to be a hairdresser.
Her experience is far from unique -- in Australia, it is estimated one in four women will experience some form of domestic violence in their lives.
- Worsening 'crisis' -
Lou's Place general manager Amanda Greaney said Australia's domestic violence problem had reached the crisis level.
She said the rising cost of living and shortages in housing -- coupled with a lack of crisis centres -- forced women to remain in abusive situations, adding that could be among the reasons for the recent uptick in deaths.
Lou's Place has a policy of not turning anyone away, Greaney said, but that was becoming increasingly difficult as more women seek support.
It's going to cost a lot of money, but women and children are living in fear and that's just not good enough. We need to stop it, she said.
Advocacy group No to Violence believes better education is needed about healthy relationships, as well as more research into what drives men's violent behaviour, according to chief executive Phillip Ripper.
The forces that lead to family violence are very complex and very interrelated. There is no simple solution, he said.