centres.

This was disclosed yesterday during the second day of the Physical Abuse Centre's domestic violence workshop at Cathedral Hall.

"Bermudians are nosy. You can be seen walking into a certain place and right away people come up with all sorts of conclusions,'' said a local nurse.

And as one of the first group of people to come into contact with domestic violence victims, health care workers yesterday confessed that they often question the best way to deal with domestic violence victims.

Ms Terry O'Sullivan, an abuse counsellor from Florida, told the group of health care workers that the most important thing any care giver should remember is to show a genuine interest.

"Superficial interest can be interpreted as rejection,'' she said.

A local nursing student noted that most times the counselling is left up to the nurse. And, she stressed, nurses need to look at the psychological problems that abused victims are suffering.

Ms O'Sullivan also stressed that abused victims should know that they have the power to stop the abuse.

She said giving abused victims medication and sending them home was not the answer.

"It does not make sense to put people on medications such as tranquillisers because often they are sent back into the abusive situation, and medication may hinder them in defending themselves,'' Ms O'Sullivan said.

"Empowerment supports independence.'' Earlier in the workshop, participants focused on the way domestic violence is handled by the law.

Abused victims' advocate Ms Judy Bittman, from Florida, discussed the methods used to combat domestic violence in the town of Quincy, Massachusetts.

Through a video, she showed that in Quincy charges are brought against alleged batterers by every possible means and even without the victim's co-operation.

Prosecution is immediate and restraining orders are rigidly enforced. No violations are tolerated, no matter how insignificant they seem.

This, according to the Physical Abuse Centre, is in stark contrast with Bermuda's approach where cases may take months to reach the courts, and restraining orders seem to be ineffective.

"The Police and the system don't seem to view the situation as urgent,'' one local woman at the workshop said.

"Most victims think that you need a lawyer to get a restraining order and the expense scares them.'' Another local delegate said she contacted a Magistrate and found out that a lawyer is not needed in order to apply for a restraining order.

A female Police Inspector revealed that there is no legal definition of domestic violence.

"The closest thing we have on the books is breaching the peace,'' she said.

"After that we have varying degrees of assault, but often domestic abuse does not come under these categories.''