‘The DV industry’: Queensland police union official criticised for ‘offensive’ reference
A Queensland police union executive has been criticised for labelling leading women’s safety groups “the DV industry” – a term referencing domestic violence and used extensively by men’s rights groups to undermine experts and advocates.
The union was last week condemned for claiming, in submissions to a federal inquiry on changes to the Family Law Act, that some people seek domestic violence orders to gain an advantage in family law disputes. The claims were dismissed as “factually incorrect” and “false” by family law experts, domestic violence organisations and women’s groups, which said “false allegations are less common than the problem of genuine victims who fail to report abuse”.
In response, Queensland police union executive member Shane Prior made a lengthy Facebook post defending the stance, and claiming that criticisms of the union were “bizarre and confected outrage”.
“We’re tackling the real issues that affect police like trying to fix broken and unworkable domestic violence laws and the ‘DV industry’ condemns us for it?” Prior wrote.
“We are experts in DV too!!
“In fact, we as police are more experienced experts in DV than some of those people quoted who are attacking the union.
“We have never said that all DV is untrue and used as a Family Court bargaining chip, however when we point out that ‘SOME’ is, we get howled down by the ‘DV Industry’ ...
“Rather than attacking police and having a go at any contribution we make, maybe the ‘DV industry’ need to start working with police for a change?
Just a thought.
“We will continue to agitate to fix broken and unworkable domestic violence laws to keep people safe (and prevent misuse of these laws too).”
The post attracted several comments from serving police officers who said they believed that in “many instances” domestic violence allegations were false.
The notion that false allegations are common has been repeatedly debunked by criminologists and family law experts.
The Queensland police union’s decision to double down on anecdotal claims about false allegations has further heightened concerns that victims are not always taken seriously by frontline police. Statistics show that almost half the women killed by an intimate partner were previously labelled by police as a perpetrator of domestic violence.
Hayley Foster, the chief executive of Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia, said Prior’s comments about the “DV industry” were extremely worrying. Online searches for the term show it is used extensively by men’s rights groups who have been criticised for promoting myths about false accusations and disputing evidence that domestic violence is gendered.
“That’s a men’s rights activist term,” Foster said.
“It’s quite offensive … and it’s like a blatant example of the attitude that is so problematic: we think we’re experts, we think we’re doing a great job.”
Prior was contacted and offered the opportunity to respond.
In recent months, the Queensland police service has acknowledged shortcomings in domestic violence responses and begun a new push to reform its approach.
Guardian Australia understands senior police have reached out to some women’s groups to express disappointment with the union’s comments.
Foster says she has also been contacted by individual police saying they disagree with the union, which wields significant political clout in Queensland.
“The very first step that’s required to achieve change is an acknowledgment,” Foster said.
“It’s not just a Queensland thing either. It’s similar in other jurisdictions. There’s a sense from us on the frontline that police are a law unto themselves, there’s a lack of accountability.
“It harks back to the whole patriarchal view that the real services are the police and government agencies, and the NGOs who support women are just a charitable thing, they should be so grateful they have any government funding whatsoever.
“There’s a divergence between those in the upper echelons trying to change things and … this ongoing entrenched culture of misogyny and a real reluctance and resistance to change.”