00:00What impact will the Stand Your Ground law, if it comes to fruition, have on domestic and intimate partner violence?
00:08Well, this was raised by QREP resident Omar Mohamed, who attended a public consultation on the proposed legislation on Tuesday.
00:16He says he partially supports the bill, but believes that it is important for more clarity and consideration in moving forward.
00:23In research of the bill, I just wanted to make some mentions that a significant international body of evidence exists that says that some Stand Your Ground laws,
00:37such as research done by the JAMA Open Network, found an 8-11% increase in monthly homicide rates, suggesting that they escalate violence rather than to it.
00:47Furthermore, while home invasions, I believe, is a massive concern, as highlighted by the former speaker before me,
00:56domestic violence cases are definitely one of them, and there is also potential that how, potentially, if the legislation isn't clear,
01:06you can't have people abusing it, because they can, with their partners in their home, they can use the law as a shield to protect themselves,
01:16such as the case of Adina Allen and these other people that would have been brutally murdered in their homes by their partners.
01:24Minister of Legal Affairs Saddam Hussein outlines what obtains under the Domestic Violence Act,
01:30and the correlation with the proposed Stand Your Ground bill in domestic violence cases.
01:34There are situations in which partners may, in fact, want to kill each other.
01:42That has happened in the past.
01:45You gave an example.
01:47However, that is, in fact, looked at at Clause 7, 2, G, 1 and 2.
01:59You asked for me to point out the sections.
02:01When the court is determining whether or not the force used was reasonable, the court has to look at G,
02:09the nature, duration, and history of any relationship between the parties to the incident,
02:15including, one, any prior use of threat or force and the nature of that threat or force,
02:20or, two, whether either party ever applied for or obtained an order against the other in accordance with the Domestic Violence Act.
02:29So it does, in fact, contemplate circumstances of domestic violence.
02:34So that's a good point you raise, but is, in fact, covered in the drafting of the bill.
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