Written answers
Tuesday, 11 June 2024
Department of Justice and Equality
Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence
Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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525.To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality her views on domestic violence survivors’ experiences of navigating the courts system and dealing with An Garda Síochána; if she will report on the adequacy of her Department’s implementation of the O’Malley Report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24737/24]
Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Improving victims' experiences of navigating the criminal justice system has been a priority for me since taking office.
As the Deputy will know, in 2020 I published my Supporting a Victims Journeyplan, which was the implementation report for the 57 recommendations of the O’ Malley Review, commissioned to consider how to best guarantee protections for vulnerable witnesses during investigations into sexual offences.
I'm acutely conscious that coming forward to report sexual and/or domestic violence can be a deeply traumatic experience for victims and I am determined to do everything in my power to ensure that the criminal justice system empowers victims to have the confidence to report an offence, knowing they will be supported, informed, and treated respectfully and professionally for the entirety of the difficult journey they have to face.
A significant amount of work has been undertaken in this area, through the implementation of ‘Supporting a Victim's Journey’, including:
- The establishment of a course in University of Limerick to train intermediaries; with the register now open for graduates of the course to formally apply to work in our courts, supporting witnesses;
- Legislating for preliminary trial hearings;
- Undertaking a mapping exercise to identify gaps in services and supports provided for victims, both geographically and by service type, and the provision of increased funding to address them;
- The establishment of a dedicated sexual offences unit in the Director of Public Prosecutions;
- The nationwide rollout of Divisional Protective Services Units which ensures that vulnerable victims are dealt with by Gardaí who have specialist expertise. Officers assigned to DPSUs receive bespoke training or engaging with vulnerable victims;
- An improved Victims Charter website, providing a comprehensive repository of information for victims, which has a dedicated section providing specialist information for victims of sexual offences;
- A national awareness campaign with a particular emphasis on reaching minority and harder-to-reach communities, including translating posters and leaflets into other languages commonly spoken among Ireland’s immigrant communities, to raise awareness of rights under the Victims of Crime Act;
- A national campaign on the importance of consent in healthy sexual relationships; and
- The establishment of a Victim’s Forum for state, social and community groups to discuss how best we can work together to meet the needs of victims.
We have also widened the scope of the existing harassment offence to include any conduct that seriously interferes with a person’s peace and privacy, or causes alarm, distress, or harm – either when the conduct occurs or when the victim becomes aware of it.
I’m also progressing legislative provisions which will give effect to the O’Malley recommendations, which will ensure anonymity for victims in all trials for sexual offences and will extend the victim’s right to separate legal representation if, for example, they are being questioned about their previous sexual history. This will provide for stronger protections for victims of sexual crime, who are predominantly women and children. I intend to enact the Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking Bill before the summer recess.
Reforming our criminal justice system to make it more victim-centred was the focus of my Department’s work to implement the recommendations of the O'Malley review and now our Zero Tolerance Strategy for Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV) builds on the reforms already introduced.
The overarching purpose of the Strategy is to bring about changes in attitudes and in systems to ensure there is Zero Tolerance in our society for DSGBV.
I was pleased to launch the 2024 Zero Tolerance implementation plan in April. Key actions this year include increasing refuge spaces, empowering frontline professionals, reframing our understanding of ‘safe spaces’, creating a national services development plan and progressing legislative reform.
Central to delivering these actions will be the work of Cuan, the statutory DSGBV Agency, which opened in February of this year. Cuan has a mandate to drive the implementation of the strategy across Government, bringing the expertise and focus required to tackle this complex social issue.
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