Domestic Violence

Jill Singer and Lisa Whitehead have won the Best TV Current Affairs/Feature Under 10 minutes Quill (Melbourne Press Club) for their story on domestic violence victim Deanne Bridgland. Judges Citation
The judges praised Jill and Lisa for skilfully distilling a complex legal and human story into a compelling piece of television. Through extensive research and gaining the trust of the story's subject, they shone a light on the difficult issue of domestic violence. The story led to changes in how the criminal justice system deals with victims of family violence. In response to my investigation a joint submission was made to the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) Review of Family Violence Laws by dozens of organizations; including Women's Legal Services Australia, National Legal Aid and the Central Australian Aboriginal Family Legal Unit. As a result, the ALRC recommended widespread reform of how the criminal justice system deals with family violence. (http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/ 12. Breach of Protection Orders/public-justice-offences#_ftn67) . As the ALRC noted, using my report on Deanne Bridgland as a case study:
"A scenario such as that which unfolded in the Deanne Bridgland case is a striking example in point. It is imperative that police and prosecutors receive training in the dynamics of family violence to enable them to assess properly the contextual background in which a victim may be seen to be acting in a way to reduce or mitigate the culpability of an offender. In particular, police and prosecutors need to be trained in how the dynamics of family violence might affect the decisions of victims of family violence to negate the existence of such violence or to withdraw previous allegations of violence."

吉尔·辛格（Jill Singer）与丽莎·怀特黑德（Lisa Whitehead）凭借聚焦家庭暴力受害者迪恩·布里奇兰（Deanne Bridgland）的报道，斩获墨尔本新闻俱乐部（Melbourne Press Club）颁发的最佳10分钟以下电视时事/专题报道奎尔奖（Quill）。

评审评语：
评审团高度赞誉二人，称其将兼具复杂性的法律与人文故事巧妙凝练为极具感染力的电视作品。二人通过深入调研并赢得报道对象的信任，让家庭暴力这一棘手议题得到充分曝光。该报道推动了刑事司法系统处理家庭暴力受害者方式的变革。

为响应此次调查，包括澳大利亚妇女法律服务机构（Women's Legal Services Australia）、全国法律援助机构（National Legal Aid）、中澳大利亚原住民家庭法律部门（Central Australian Aboriginal Family Legal Unit）在内的数十家机构，联合向澳大利亚法律改革委员会（Australian Law Reform Commission, ALRC）提交了关于家庭暴力法律修订的意见书。最终，澳大利亚法律改革委员会建议全面改革刑事司法系统处理家庭暴力案件的模式。相关链接：http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/12. Breach of Protection Orders/public-justice-offences#_ftn67

正如澳大利亚法律改革委员会以迪恩·布里奇兰的相关报道作为案例研究所指出的：
"类似迪恩·布里奇兰案中所呈现的情形，便是极具说服力的典型例证。警方与检察官亟需接受家庭暴力行为逻辑的专项培训，以便能够正确评估受害者为减轻或免除施暴者罪责而采取相关行为时的背景情境。尤为关键的是，警方与检察官需通过培训掌握家庭暴力动态对受害者决策的影响机制，例如受害者为何会否认暴力存在或撤回先前的暴力指控。"