Women's Aid
Women’s Aid is a national, feminist organisation working to prevent and address the impact of domestic violence and abuse.
ID: 519362449349-77
Lobbying Activity
Response to Integrated child protection systems
11 Oct 2023
Women's Aid is a leading national organisation that has been working in Ireland to stop domestic violence against women and children since 1974. More information at www.womensaid.ie Children are greatly impacted by domestic abuse, both when targeted by the perpetrator directly and when they witness the abuse of a parent or other family member, which is in itself a form of emotional child abuse We have noted the following gaps in relation to child protection in the context of domestic abuse: Lack of consistency in social workers understanding of domestic abuse and its impact on children. Women report they are made feel responsible for the abuse and fear their children would be taken away. This is partly due to the lack of requirement for social workers to have studied domestic abuse in their curricula or to be trained after The Child and Family Agency makes little use of the power it has to apply for a Safety or Barring order itself if they assess there is a need for it but the protective parent is too fearful to apply, nor they support the parent to apply The interfacing of the Child protection and the Family Law systems is problematic, with some women reporting the intervention of the Agencys social workers made their situation worse in the Family courts, or the Courts orders for access run against requirement from Child protection that they do not let the child have contact with the perpetrator Lack of effective co-ordination between An Garda Síochána (Irish police force) and The Child and Family Agency when children are victims of sexual abuse or domestic abuse. There are still too few joint interviews (to minimise the times the child is interviewed) and persistent lack of feed-back from the Agency There is little sharing of information from both An Garda Síochána and The Child and Family Agency in private law cases regarding custody and access, where there are investigations of abuse of the child and where such information would allow the courts to make safer decision for both children and the non abusive parent. The criminal and family courts work as silos, for example Family court not taking into account criminal convictions for domestic abuse when determining access In general domestic abuse is not a key consideration in Custody and Access cases and international child abduction law, resulting in decisions that put children at risk. The discredited concept of Parental Alienation is still used contributing to unsafe outcomes Children are still not consistently heard in proceedings about themselves There is no state funded contact centres where access can be facilitated if the courts or Child Protection assess this to be necessary for the safety of the child There is no consistent provision of psycosocial support to children who have suffered domestic abuse to help them recover Moreover, older children experience DA in their own relationships, including online abuse by partners, but there is little tailored supports and information. Our research found that for 51% of the young women who experience relationship abuse, the abuse started before they turned 18 Recommendations The curriculum for Social workers should mandate study of domestic abuse and its impact on children Child experts in the Family law should be regulated and trained Training on domestic abuse and its impact on children should be compulsory for all professionals in the Family Court There should be better collaboration between Child Protection, the Family Courts and the Criminal justice system when dealing with families experiencing domestic abuse The safety of the child from domestic abuse (including from emotional abuse caused by witnessing DA) should be a key consideration in Family law and in decisions under the Brussells Iib regulation and The Hague cases, and measures to hear the voice of the child in such proceedings should be strengthened Child protection need to include specific measures for children suffering DA in dating relationships
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