Domestic Violence Retractions: A flawed basis for prosecution - a podcast by Minnimal Productions

In this episode, the wigs examine a controversial situation impacting some of the state's potentially most vulnerable women which requires reform. 

It is common in the criminal justice system for women who allege domestic violence against their partner to later withdraw the allegation and in some cases claim the allegations were in fact lies. 

Most experts and criminal lawyers are aware that many of these retractions are not a genuine indication of the falsity of the original allegation, but rather can be motivated by fear, love or just a concern to keep a family together and supported. 

In some such cases, NSW Police have been charging such women with making a false accusation, relying alone on the woman's retraction. 

Many such women have pleaded guilty and in some cases been jailed. 

The Wigs are concerned that this practice has led to miscarriages of justice, with genuine victims of domestic violence being re-victimised, discredited and jailed. 

In this episode the wigs examine the issue, discuss case studies and propose a way to ensure any such prosecutions are properly considered and only launched when the original allegation can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt to in fact be false, by evidence other than the retraction itself.

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