Ms Margaret Martin:

One of the issues noted by Women's Aid in its 40 years' experience is the increasing criminalisation of the act of breaching a barring order. The other day, for example, one of our support workers told me that she was highly impressed recently by the decision of a judge who had imposed a suspended sentence on a partner who had breached a barring order to speak directly to the defendant and tell him he had engaged in unacceptable and criminal behaviour. Irrespective of what penalty is imposed, the objective is to change social attitudes. The decision on penalties should be based on an examination of what would be effective and what move us in the right direction. In the area of domestic violence, as Women's Aid has noted, while it has taken a number of years for many things to come together, this has had a significant impact during that time.