Plea to protect women against violent partners

Victoria’s four diocesan bishops have declared that domestic violence is a crisis in Australia, write Mark Brolly and Jonathan Luxmoore. In a statement distributed to parishes throughout the state last weekend, the bishops cited statistics showing that a woman died at the hands of her partner or ex-partner every week and that one in four children witnessed their mother being abused.

“To our priests, pastoral associates and others in leadership positions – we say that our churches should be a safe place for victims of domestic and family violence, where understanding and assistance are readily available,” the statement said. “For this to happen we all need to reflect on our attitudes and equip ourselves with the knowledge to assist those who ask for help, through referrals to specialist services where needed.

“We all need to … lead boys and young men to treat girls and women with respect and teach them how to develop positive and violence-free relationships.” The statement was signed by Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne and Bishops Paul Bird of Ballarat, Pat O’Regan of Sale and Les Tomlinson of Sandhurst.

Meanwhile Slovakia’s Catholic bishops have urged the centre-left Government of premier Robert Fico to reject a 2011 Council of Europe convention against violence on women, warning it will infringe basic rights and social mores.

“The problem is that the principles one can share concerning the protection of women are accompanied in this document with unacceptable clauses which collide with other fundamental rights such as religious freedom and education,” Archbishop Stanislaw Zvolensky, the Bishops’ Conference president, told Slovak ministers and MPs. “Article 3 defines gender as something social and cultural, suggesting everyone is born neutral and that masculinity and femininity are the product of upbringing … and personal choices. This violates human experience and healthy order.” The “Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence”, the world’s first legal framework for curbing sexual violence, forced marriages, stalking and female genital mutilation, has been signed by 43 of the Council of Europe’s 47 member states.