Clare's Law: should abuse history be revealed to new partners?

[The Straight Story]

A senior NSW policeman says Australia would be foolish to dismiss a move for a “Clare's Law” to let women find out if their partners have a history of domestic violence.

The UK government is considering introducing the legislation, in part as a reaction to the growth of online dating.

The NSW Police Force's spokesman on Domestic and Family Violence, Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch, said it would be interesting to see the outcome of the British debate over the law.

“We'd be foolish to dismiss it,” he said. “The internet is part of our lives and we potentially can't do without it. So we need to be able to live with it, be able to manage it.”

....

Under the Clare's Law proposal, women and men would be able to raise concerns about a partner with the police. More controversially, it has also been suggested that police could alert someone to a partner's history of violence, even if an approach for information had not been made.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/clares-law-should-abuse-history-be-revealed-to-new-partners-20110721-1hqhc.html#ixzz1Sl5KHWje