Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Senators for their contributions and in particular Senator Martin and all supporters of the proposed Private Members' Bill. It has had a significant amount of support. When we engage on the topics of domestic and sexual violence, coercive control and abuse of women and girls the support is unanimous and the overall objective of all of us is to make our country a safe space for women and girls, in particular making sure the judicial system works for them and with them and does not serve to retraumatise them after so many have experienced a very traumatic situation.

I thank Senator Martin for introducing the Bill and the other work he has done. I have given a commitment to engage with him on the previous Bill and I look forward to hearing his proposals next week. It is important that we look to see how our laws operate and whether we need to change them if they are not working. This is something I have always been very open to when working with colleagues. I look forward to continuing to do so.

Before I turn to the provisions of the Bill I acknowledge the events of the past week, which all Senators have referenced. What they highlight first and foremost is that despite the work done by so many in this House and the other House, by so many organisations and by so many victims coming forward, and despite the efforts to highlight what is an epidemic of violence against women and girls, the very fact that a young woman walking down the street defending another individual who was the victim of homophobic abuse should be so viciously assaulted, and not supported by other men who were there, is absolutely horrific. It shows how far we still have to go. I cannot commend Natasha O'Brien enough for her advocacy, as an individual on that evening and her bravery in coming forward and going through what is a very difficult process in the judicial system, and for speaking up now.

I have said before that while there is frustration at present it is very important that we as public representatives keep the separation of powers and that we protect the system to make sure it is free from political interference. At the same time, we have to look at the system and look at where there needs to be improvements and how we can do this in our roles as legislators, developers of policy and people who have responsibility over the budget, and how we can support and assist victims and make sure the system works for them in the best way possible. We do have safeguards in the system, in the form of the DPP where there are cases and sentences, and it is important to acknowledge the legally-provided safeguard that does exist where a sentence is seen as overly severe or unduly lenient.

The work that has been done has been with the support of the Houses. The maximum sentence for assault causing harm, which we know is what is applicable in many incidents to victims of domestic violence, has gone from five years to ten years to make sure the Judiciary has an increased maximum penalty available. We have introduced stand-alone offences of stalking and non-fatal strangulation and it is important to connect them to the Bill when we speak about coercive control. Even though it has always been the case, it is not that long ago that coercive control was not seen as the horrendous crime it is. The impact it can have on individuals was not acknowledged and neither was the impact of non-fatal strangulation. Unfortunately for victims we know a person is nine times more likely to have an even more severe or potential deathly outcome where there is non-fatal strangulation in an abusive relationship. It is important to acknowledge this and to acknowledge its severity and encourage more victims to come forward.

Stalking is now seen as the horrendous and horrific crime it is and the impact it can have on victims is acknowledged. We need to continue to speak out against what might seem as issues that have always been there and acknowledge their severity. The offence of harassment has been widened to include any conduct that seriously interferes with a person's peace and privacy or causes alarm or distress. It also ensures the protection and identity of victims of harassment and stalking in court.

The Sexual Offenders (Amendment) Act was commenced last year with the support of both Houses to make sure we have a robust system for the monitoring of sex offenders. The first law I introduced was Coco's law to ensure we criminalise those who distribute intimate images without people's consent. We have also looked at harassment and how we can acknowledge that one incident can be as detrimental as multiple incidents. We have other reforms expanding on the restrictions on perpetrators cross-examining victims, as has been mentioned, as well as the preliminary trial hearings that are already there to make sure we take away some of the delays and that we support victims in the run up to trials and make sure some of the difficult issues can be dealt with beforehand.

The zero tolerance approach to this has been a priority for me, and all of society has taken on the objective and goal to ensure there is zero tolerance and zero acceptance of any form of domestic, sexual or gender-based violence and, importantly, the attitudes that underpin it. This is where education is key. The whole-of-government strategy places a particular emphasis on education. We need to make sure at the earliest stage possible in our primary and secondary schools and beyond them, in the most age-appropriate way, that we engage with young people as to what is appropriate in terms of relationships, how we engage with each other, how we respect each other and how we show that respect and dignity, particularly for young men so they are part of the overall education.

Central to the work being done is the Domestic Violence Act, which is the subject of this evening's Private Members' Bill. It came into force in 2019. Among other things it introduced the offence of coercive control. The aim of the domestic violence Bill before the House is to restrict those who can be present during certain court proceedings. The restrictions would apply to the breach of specified orders under the Bill and extends to coercive control proceedings, limiting attendance to court personnel, media representatives and those involved in the case, while other persons could remain at the judge's discretion. It also provides that verdicts in cases of coercive control and breaches of domestic violence orders should be announced in public. I have not opposed this and I absolutely recognise the intention behind the Bill. These are highly sensitive cases that need to be dealt with in the most sensitive manner. Restricting attendance at court means victims are spared in what is often a very personal and a very difficult matter.

The victims of crime Act 2017 contains a suite of measures designed to protect and support victims during the criminal justice process. These include a provision in regard to what we are speaking about today. Section 20 of the Act gives the court the power to exclude the public, a portion of the public or specified individuals from court proceedings. It applies in circumstances where there is a need to protect a victim from secondary or repeated victimisation, intimidation or retaliation, as long as it is not contrary to the interests of justice. It applies this to all victims of criminal offences. It would apply to coercive control. As we explored this Private Members' legislation I want to ensure there is no overlap or if there is a need to amend the legislation I have just outlined because it is not working that we do so. I want to work very closely with Senator Martin to look at the current victims of crime Act, which was set out to protect victims in this instance and all victims of crime including coercive control, and if it is not working in the way it should how, either through this Private Members' Bill or in another way, we amend it or make sure it works in the way it is supposed to.The most important thing here is that victims are supported and not retraumatised as they go through the system and this is everyone's overall objective here.

Regarding mandating sentences and the requirement that verdicts shall be announced in public, this is not currently a feature of domestic violence cases, which are heard in private. Announcing verdicts in relation to the breaching of domestic violence orders may have consequences. I say this because we are moving to change the situation when it comes to sexual offences to ensure they will be heard in private and not in public. When it comes to sexual offences, therefore, there is a move under way to have the verdicts announced in private. This was a recommendation from the O'Malley report, which was a review of criminal trials involving vulnerable persons or victims of sexual offences. It found that announcements in public could easily lead to the identification of the victim and, potentially, prevent people from coming forward. That report was undertaken via a great deal of engagement with victims, representative organisations, the Courts Service and others.

We have two separate things happening here. It is important to ensure that whatever we decide is done with the best interests of the victims at heart, which is what we all want here, and that we do not in any way prevent people from coming forward. We need to further explore what this process will look like if we do not have verdicts read out in domestic cases and we were to move to do the same with sexual violence cases. How would this approach fit into that context? We need to work together to explore the potential options here and I assure the Senators we will work with them and review this matter.

In the time I have left, because this legislation is going through the House now and will be concluded in the Dáil next week, I note that the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023 also contains several key measures recommended in the O'Malley report I just mentioned. The legislation will expand a victim's right to legal representation in circumstances where an application has been to question a victim about his or her previous sexual experience. This is important as a provision. The Bill also seeks to enact recommendations relating to anonymity and the exclusion of the public from sexual offence trials, which I have just mentioned. Provisions that require the sentence or verdict to be delivered in public are being repealed in this instance.

A revised definition of "broadcast and publication" will also cover publication by way of social media to protect the identities of victims. It is extremely important that this is the case when our normal media channels are already precluded from presenting or broadcasting this information. The intention here is to protect victims and ensure there is not a roundabout way of disseminating information through social media. We know this happens all the time now. Somebody gets information and thinks it is okay to present it on social media with scant or no regard for the victims. It is extremely important, therefore, that "broadcast and publication" also covers social media.

The Bill will also contain an important provision in relation to the vouching of character references in sexual offence trials. I commend the work of Senators Doherty, Chambers and Pauline O'Reilly in this regard as well. Members will know that this provision began its life as a Private Member's Bill here in the Seanad. It is so important that we work collectively and that we can work together where Members bring forward positive proposals to ensure they are enacted. During the debate on this issue, Members from across the House lined up to express support, showing there has been great political support for this measure across all political divides to ensure we have a system that protects and supports victims.

At present, if a witness is called to court to provide character evidence, this is given under oath. Written testimonials, however, are not sworn. The new provision will require that where a person has been convicted of a sexual offence, character references presented at sentencing must be made via oath or affidavit. This will ensure that people providing such character references must swear to the veracity of their statements and can be called before the court for cross-examination too. This applies to all offences listed in the Schedule to the Sex Offenders Act 2001.

I will briefly outline some other initiatives that have started to have a positive impact on the overall system and structure but that I believe are part of the reason we saw the figures we did in the Women's Aid report published last week. It was absolutely harrowing to see the level of violence in this regard. I have said this time and time again. If we were to see the level of violence on our streets that occurs in people's homes, we would be talking about it all day, every day. It is an epidemic and it needs to be treated as such. It is very positive, though, that women are coming forward and seeking help. We now have divisional protective service units rolled out across all our Garda divisions. This is to ensure we have gardaí who are specifically trained and specific and safe spaces to enable women and victims of domestic and sexual violence, past or present, to be able to come forward and be supported in the best way possible. A new sexual offences unit has been established in the Office of the DPP as well, acknowledging the importance of its work.

The new professional diploma in intermediary studies in the University of Limerick recently saw 17 people graduate. The endeavour was funded by my Department and this was another recommendation of the O'Malley report. It has been implemented through Supporting a Victim's Journey. Awareness-raising campaigns have been ongoing, particularly the intimate image abuse campaign that arose out of Coco's Law. This makes it clear to all of us, but focusing particularly on younger people, that sharing an intimate image of another person is a serious crime with a serious penalty. Again, this is acknowledging that the way in which young people communicate with one another has changed. Social media platforms can be positive spaces but there are also dangers and this campaign is about making sure that message is broadcast loud and clear. There is also the Always Here campaign that has been rolled out to ensure victims know supports are there. We must, of course, back this up with investment in supports. This is an area I have tried to prioritise. Funding for domestic violence victims and supports for them has increased from approximately €22 million to €59 million in the past three years. I very much intend to ensure that in this upcoming budget funding continues to increase and that it goes directly into the supports and services being provided to victims. Separate from that funding, we must continue to have a budget to develop and roll out new refuge accommodation and safe houses. We have developed a significant number of additional safe houses this year and I am pleased to say the first of the three ongoing projects, in Wexford, will see the new refuge open this year. The projects in Dundalk and Navan are progressing behind that. In the other areas where we know there are no refuges now and that we need to do better, work is progressing in all of them. We have been dealing with an unusual situation in respect of an organisation working on the ground coming forward to seek the development of a refuge. In many instances, this has not happened. We have, therefore, had to look at the entire structure and way in which a refuge can be developed and ensure that if such an organisation is not there, we find one and put in the resources, supports and structures so a refuge can be developed. This is exactly what is being done now, and my Department is working on this undertaking with the Departments of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman.

Finally, and bringing so much of this work together as well, has been the development of a new agency. Cuan is the first and only agency we have ever had whose sole focus is dealing with domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Its role will be to work with all of us across the sector to implement the zero-tolerance strategy, which is a whole-of-government strategy to prevent, tackle and deal with domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, to support victims and to change the attitudes I mentioned that underpin so much of this behaviour. The agency's work will focus on awareness-raising campaigns, which will underpin its endeavours.

Additionally, an important change in this area will be to ensure we have the facts and figures. We know domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a massive problem, but we have not collated and brought the data together in a way that is necessary to allow us to really be able to respond in the most effective way possible. The CSO’s sexual violence survey undertaken recently will be followed by a study on domestic violence. These surveys will be repeated every five years to ensure we have the up-to-date data and information we need to change our laws, implement better policy and, above all, protect and support victims. I acknowledge the work of the agency and its chief executive, Dr. Stephanie O'Keeffe. I commit to working with the agency and others in this regard.

I commend Senator Martin and all the Senators here on their absolute commitment to dealing with this issue. On the legislation and the Bill as proposed, I look forward to working with the Senator to tease through some of the matters I have mentioned to ensure we get this right and, where necessary, amend our laws to ensure the system works to support victims who are so brave in coming forward in the first instance. We must, however, do what we can to ensure they are protected and not revictimised and that those responsible are held accountable at the end of the day.