4. Nina*

Nina* never knew if Joe* was telling the truth. Joe said he used to be a police officer, that he still had good mates who served on the force. Joe said he knew everything there was to know about the courts.

Nina* still doesn’t know for sure if her former partner had the skills and expertise he boasted about. What she does know is that Joe used these pieces of information to scare her into submission and silence. To make Nina* think she was alone and powerless, and that Joe had the contacts to cover up whatever he did to her.

In this episode of There’s No Place Like Home, you’re going to meet Nina* and hear about her experience of reporting domestic and family violence to the police. You’re also going to hear from experts about the new models, new approaches and new training being undertaken in some police jurisdictions that are cause for genuine optimism about how these cases are handled.

The odds of an arrest being made, when someone does make a complaint to police, often turn on the presence of physical injuries. If a victim has suffered visible injuries, police are up to four times more likely to arrest the perpetrator than if no injuries are apparent.

But what happens if a victim doesn’t have physical evidence of injury? What if they’ve been subject to financial, psychological or emotional abuse? What if their physical assault left no mark? What options are available to them?

In this episode we draw on the expertise of advocates and practitioners - as well as Nina* herself - to ask how police could be better equipped to respond to the particular needs of domestic and family violence victims?

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There’s No Place Like Home is a podcast by Future Women, made in collaboration with CommBank which is supporting long-term financial independence for victim-survivors through CommBank Next Chapter.

Content note: This podcast includes descriptions of domestic and family violence and may be upsetting to some listeners. If you have experienced or are at risk of domestic and family violence and/or sexual assault, you can call the national counselling service 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732). In an emergency, or if you are not feeling safe, always call the police on 000.

*We have used pseudonyms to protect Nina*’s identity.

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