Puppet shows to provide Open Door for child victims of domestic violence

CHILDREN who have been abused or have witnessed domestic violence are to be counselled with the help of puppets.

The Open Door Network — a Kerry-based group that helps women and children who have been abused — is to put on special puppet shows to help children come to terms with their experiences and discuss their problems more openly.

The shows will travel to women’s refuges, treatment centres and social work departments in the coming months.

If the project is successful it will be extended to primary schools around the country next year to prompt discussion on a broader range of issues effecting children, such as bullying.

Child therapist with the Open Door Network, Edel Lawlor, said children can relate better to these fictional figures than to adults when communicating their problems.

“If I was to talk to a child about their problem, I wouldn’t get the same response as a puppet would,” she said.

The shows will involve puppets talking about experiences of domestic violence in a sensitive manner, but with an element of humour and entertainment.

Children will then be allowed to talk back to the characters about their own experiences.

Two thirds of women who are subject to domestic violence say their children witnessed their abuse.

There are no child therapists in place to work with the hundreds of children living in refuges for abused women around the country.

It’s estimated there are three times as many children as adults in these centres, as women who are subject to domestic violence tend to take their children with them.

While women staying in refuges are offered counselling and support, there are no such services in place for children.

Sinead Kavanagh, co-ordinator with the network said: “When a child comes to a refuge with its mother it is usually suffering a lot.

“This is a time to make a positive intervention in a child’s life and prevent them developing other problems.

“But there are no qualified child therapists to work with them in any of the refuges, mostly because of a lack of funding.”

She added: “Children who witness domestic violence usually suffer in the same way as a child who has been abused.

“They can develop post-traumatic stress disorder; behavioural problems often emerge and they find it difficult to concentrate in school.”