Women flock to refuges after barring orders are outlawed

WOMEN are flocking to refuges and violent partners are moving back into the family home following the outlawing of temporary barring orders, according to women’s aid groups.

A sample survey by the National Network of Women’s Refuges and Support Services (NNWRSS) of its 32 affiliated organisations found mass confusion among service users about the validity of full barring orders. This follows a Supreme Court ruling on October 9 declaring interim barring orders unconstitutional.

NNWRSS director Sharon O’Halloran said feedback from around the country showed that violent partners were challenging the status of full barring orders and threatening to go to court to get them rescinded. In some cases, partners had moved back into the home: “There is complete confusion among both women and men and the perception is that all orders are affected by this.”

Women had also reported instances of gardaí not enforcing existing interim barring orders, because they were also confused about the ruling, she said.

Anne Foley, spokeswoman for Mullingar Women in Crisis, said one woman with an interim order had been left with no option but to leave her home two days after the ruling when the gardaí phoned her to say her partner was threatening to move back in: “This is a man who had previously breached an interim order and was sent to Clover Hill House for doing so. He subsequently went to the High Court and got bail.

“One of the bail conditions, imposed by the judge, was that he was not to go near his partner’s house. The gardaí have now told the woman that they cannot enforce the condition on foot of the ruling,” Ms Foley said.

The Garda press office said women with an existing interim order could still call the gardaí. A Garda spokes

woman said women were also protected under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act and criminal damage and public order legislation.

A spokeswoman for the Midlands service of the NNWRSS network said this was fine in theory but unworkable in reality: “The reality is that, when you are dealing with a violent partner, you have no hope of getting to the telephone to call the gardaí in the first place. My partner used to plug the telephone out of the wall and take it to the pub with him.”

In the South-East, refuges were packed last weekend and unable to take referrals. Of approximately 100 beds for women and children, there were no vacancies. Colette Garvey, vice-chairwoman of NNWRSS, said a meeting will take place tomorrow to see what can be done to clarify the ruling and a public information campaign has not been ruled out.

Denise Charlton, director of Women’s Aid said a lot of callers wanted a campaign to ensure emergency orders were back in place as soon as possible: The reality is that the rationale for putting emergency orders in place in the first instance has not gone away.”

The Attorney General is awaiting legal advice in relation to the Supreme Court ruling.

The ruling was made on the basis that the person against whom the order is made is deprived of the right to be heard when the application is heard ex parte, which means the court considers only the applicant’s side of the case.