Hundreds of victims suffer every day but Ireland is failing them
Campaigner Priscilla on fighting for change to system
CAMPAIGNER Priscilla Grainger survived years of violence before escaping an abusive marriage and setting up Stop Domestic Violence In Ireland with her daughter Ainie.
Here she describes the daily struggle to support victims, and the challenges they face within the family law system and securing a safe refuge...
WALKING into cold, damp Dolphin House family law courts on a weekday morning, the crowded reception area is crammed with buggies and prams.
I spot a tiny infant and mammy, who is bruised, and slide our card into her nervous hand.
In the waiting area are men and women, some as young as 18 years old, sitting waiting to meet with their legal representation.
Looking around, I realised Dolphin House is not fit for purpose.
Kids playing on the stairwell, abusers mouthing horrific things at the person seeking a protection order against them.
Staff are under extreme pressure, with people shouting aggressively at them.
Victims have no privacy. It’s not a safe place for them, many victims trying to fill out forms on their knee.
Then having to leave and find a photocopying service.
We rang a refuge to see if we could get a victim and her three children in but there’s no room
CRYING
You hear initials being called over the intercom. The noise level is constant, with people talking over each other and innocent babies crying.
Here is just a sample of applications heard in one morning: ■ Victim, who needed six stitches after alleging one beating, granted a seven-day interim barring order. ■ Elderly mother, 83, using a walker, waits to go in before the judge, alleging her cocaine addict son flung a chair at her. Barring order granted. ■ Mother reunited with her three children on foot of a production order. She hasn’t seen them for two months after their dad refused to return them from an access visit.
“Mammy, mammy, why did you leave us?” they cry. Judge gives the father a “telling off ”.
We recommend supervised access only. ■ One woman applying for a protection/safety order tells of emotional abuse, verbal abuse and having the boiler disconnected so she has no heating.
“I cant go on like this,” she sobs. “Now he has said he is taking the main fuse out of the fuse board because I must go to my mother’s during the day. ‘F*** you and the cold. A coffin is where you will end up in’.”
This same victim was left with no food to feed the children. Result – victim granted protection order, hearing in six months. Unfortunately this does not help the victim in getting the abuser out of the house. So now she has to return to the home where most likely the abuse will continue.
We rang a refuge to see if we could get the victim and her three children in but unfortunately no rooms anywhere.
We have hundreds of examples of what victims suffer daily but here is where Ireland is failing them. Change is not happening fast enough, the court system is backlogged.
There are not enough refuges. There are none for men and only 144 spaces for women and children nationwide.
That number wouldn’t even cover Dublin on a weekly basis never mind the whole country.
ABUSERS
Victims are forced back to their abusers in some situations because of lack of support – because there is literally nowhere for them to go.
What we need is for domestic violence to have its own recognised court with highly trained judges. We need holding cells for defendants, private consultation rooms, on call solicitors, admin services for victims, a food hub, supervised access areas, a play area.
We also need immediate referrals to refuges in cases of proven abuse, counselling services, and wrap around information services open seven days a week.
Domestic violence doesn’t just happen from nine to five Monday to Friday.
It’s a national problem occurring 24/7 and typically reaching its highest peaks at weekends – when by and large there are no supports available.