Courts need more resources for domestic violence, says ex-Supreme Court judge

The courts need more resources to deal with cases of domestic violence, former Supreme Court judge Catherine McGuinness has said.

She was speaking at the launch of Safe Ireland's report Lawlessness of the Home, which charts the experiences women who have suffered domestic violence have had seeking legal remedies.

“Most District Court judges have a very long list and very little time to listen. Not listening is a symptom of this lack of resources,” she said.

Safe Ireland, the national organisation representing frontline domestic violence services, including refuges, represents women and children affected by domestic violence. Its 40-member organisation provides support services across 26 counties.

Lawlessness of the Home makes a number of recommendations, including making domestic violence a crime, ensuring consistency in the application of the law and making "pockets of good practice" the norm.

Mrs Justice McGuinness said many women were forced to return to violent or abusive relationships due to lack of options. “This question seems to upset the system that deals with domestic violence, but she goes back because she has no alternative,” she said.

“We need to change the whole view of domestic violence in society so that there is public pressure to change.

Criminal offence

“It’s a criminal offence to assault another human being. It is assault and it should be dealt with as such,” she said.

“We have known about domestic violence for a long time, but we haven’t solved a lot of the problems.”

Domestic violence survivor Karol Jackson said she had overcome the feelings of "shame" she experienced during her journey through the court system.

“I feel the way forward for the safety of each and every family and citizen of Ireland is to change the psyche and culture around domestic violence as one that can no longer be tolerated or accepted in our society. After all, the family is the foundation of our society,” she said.

“Institutional abuse and church abuse was named and shamed and so something was done about it.

“It is now time to do something to help the thousands of people of Ireland who suffer fear and violence on a daily basis. The law needs to be changed to protect them better than it does at the present time.”

Senator Ivana Bacik, Reid professor of criminal law at TCD, said domestic violence had a "devastating impact" on communities. "We need to mark it as a crime. It is a crime."

Tragic consequences

Ms Bacik said Safe Ireland’s report highlighted domestic violence being seen as a problem, rather than a crime, with sometimes tragic consequences.

Forthcoming legislation will designate “domestic violence as a specific crime”, she said.

Ms Bacik said the lack of “joined-up thinking” highlighted in the report was nothing new and said a more co-ordinated national strategy was needed.

“There have been some really heroic attempts by some gardaí to deal with incidents of domestic violence. We’re focusing, perhaps inevitably, on policing and criminal justice responses to domestic violence.

“What we need is a switch of consciousness to see that domestic violence is not a woman’s issue, it is a men’s issue, a women’s issue and a children’s issue,” she said.