Whatshot
Legal Talk
Legal Talk
Date: 2016-12-02
The campaign of 2016's "Sixteen days of activism against violence towards women and children" is well underway. Many law firms, ours included, have volunteered to assist the campaign by rendering legal advice and assistance to a number of organizations that are at the forefront of this worthy campaign.
Probono will be running a helpdesk at the various magistrates' courts across the country during this time for indigent abused women. In my years in legal practice I've found that the pattern of the abuser is to gain complete control over his victim. This may be done in various ways, including threats and actual physical harm, endless insults, threats of being kicked out of the home, threats that the minor children will be removed from the victim's care, confiscating car keys, cutting off all money to the victim, freezing all the credit cards that she used and so on.
Ultimately forcing the woman making the woman believe that she has no other option but to remain in the abusive relationship.
When one mentions the word domestic violence, the immediate picture which springs to mind is that of a battered woman covered in bruises with a swollen face. Whilst that remains true for most abused women, economic abuse is yet another form of abuse that often goes unnoticed.
This also has the effect of trapping its victims and leaving them feeling like they have nowhere to turn. Economic abuse is the unreasonable deprivation of economic or financial resources to which the victim is entitled or requires out of necessity, including mortgage bond repayments or rent. It essentially traps a person into living in a marriage or relationship from which escape becomes impossible.
Anyone who is a victim of domestic violence can approach the nearest Magistrate's Court to apply for a protection order that includes a monetary award. This can be applied for during ordinary court hours, or on weekends and public holidays if the case is urgent.
The protection order is valid throughout South Africa regardless of where it was issued and remains valid until such time that it is withdrawn, cancelled and/or set aside by the person who initially applied for it.
The effectiveness of the protection order is the fact that when the interim protection order is granted, the court will also authorize a warrant for the arrest of the abuser, which remains suspended until it's needed, i.e. when the abuser contravenes the protection order. The police would be compelled to arrest the abuser and charge him with contempt of court.
Know your rights. The Law Desk of Fawzia Khan & Associates. Giving YOU the Power of Attorney.
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