Seanad debates

Tuesday, 17 December 2002

Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage (Resumed).

 

Many men are concerned, not with the law passed by the Oireachtas, but with the application of it in the courts. I was very struck when I entered elected politics, representing an ostensibly working class constituency in Dublin, at the number of men who complained to me about court rulings. They said they had been dealt with unfairly, that there was a presumption of guilt attached to them and that for them, at least, their experience of the courts, particularly of barring orders in the family law courts, was unfair. Much of that is perception – the courts have to decide these issues – but we must respond to it. The issue of domestic violence is greater than just the appalling circumstances for women.

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