Suicide threats are a weapon of family violence. How can police balance mental health needs with protecting victims?

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******** threats are a ******* of family *********. How can police balance mental health needs with protecting victims?

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It’s relatively common for perpetrators of family ********* to threaten ******** to control a victim-survivor’s actions. A study by the

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suggests 39% of women who experience coercive control are subject to perpetrators’ threats of self-harm.

******** threats can be related to

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, a tactic of

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, or sometimes both. As a result, victim-survivors may feel pressured to remain in an abusive relationship.

Men who ***** their partners are

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to experience suicidal ideation than the general population. For example, the man who *******

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had threatened ******** multiple times in the lead-up to their murders.

It can then be tricky for police responding to these situations. Victoria Police officers who participated in my

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research were concerned that when they prioritize ******** prevention over responding to family *********, victim-survivors are sometimes left without protection.

What’s standard police protocol?

The intersection between mental health and family ********* is a challenging area for both the legal and health systems, with a variety of laws surrounding both. These laws also differ between states and territories.

In Victoria, police have two main avenues to respond to perpetrator ******** threats: mental health legislation and family ********* legislation.

Under

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, police can put someone under the care of a hospital or health practitioners to prevent them harming themselves or others.

Meanwhile, ******** threats can be a form of family ********* and coercive control. Police can issue a

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to the perpetrator. A notice sets conditions to prevent family ********* and protect the victim-survivor. For example,

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of a safety notice include not to commit family ********* towards a victim-survivor, or expose a child to family *********. If any conditions are broken, police can charge the perpetrator with a ********* offense with a maximum penalty of

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.

Depending on how receptive a perpetrator is to a safety notice, it may stop them from committing further ****** towards the victim-survivor, as well as promote accountability.

In Victoria, there are no formal processes that tell police how to address family ********* incidents where the perpetrator has threatened ********. Police are therefore required to decide how to address the matter based on their experience and knowledge.

In Australia,

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is the only state that has publicly available guidance on police addressing perpetrator ******** threats. This framework focuses on managing immediate risk and referral pathways.

Unintended consequences

All ten police officers who participated in

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specialized in family *********. They all indicated ******** threats were a commonly-used tactic of coercive control.

Most participants said when they attend a family ********* incident where a perpetrator has threatened ********, they are likely to address the perpetrator’s mental health as their priority. The perpetrator often then goes to hospital for assessment and treatment, when required.

When a person is under the care of a hospital, police cannot issue a family ********* safety notice. Police

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notification from a hospital of when a person is released if they are a risk to others. However, this does not always happen, according to police.

As a result, the perpetrator may be released from hospital without a safety notice in place. Therefore, they may commit some forms of family ********* towards a victim-survivor without consequence, if their actions are not criminalized by other laws.

The victim-survivor may then be at increased risk of family ********* and the perpetrator could avoid accountability. Several officers indicated that there have been instances in which perpetrators have been released into the community without an order in place, making this a real risk to victim-survivors.

Learning to balance the risks

Some police stations are developing processes to change the way they address perpetrator ******** threats. One of the participants suggested family ********* safety notices should be issued first, before hospitalizing a perpetrator.

Improvements within policing could prevent further ********* from occurring. A nuanced approach is needed to train police to balance the mental health needs of perpetrators, as well as the safety of victim-survivors and the community at large.

However, the gap in service provision cannot be addressed by police alone.

There is limited information exchange between hospitals and police in some circumstances. We need further communication and collaboration to ensure police can issue safety notices when needed.

Regardless of whether a ******** threat is because of mental health issues, they can be weaponized by perpetrators of family *********. Change is needed to ensure victim-survivors are protected and perpetrators are held accountable.

It is important that we continue to research and learn about how family ********* and mental health interact, for both perpetrators and victim-survivors. As a result, we can more effectively move towards ending family *********.

Provided by
The Conversation

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Citation:
******** threats are a ******* of family *********. How can police balance mental health needs with protecting victims? (2024, June 15)
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