Child abuse victims frustrated by justice system

PARENTS suffer more personal anguish from how the criminal justice system treats abused children than the victims themselves.

New research on how child abuse cases progress through the criminal justice system revealed that 58% of parents surveyed had suffered specific problems with their physical or mental well-being.

It also found while most victims were happy with the way individual gardaí and solicitors dealt with their case, they were frustrated by the system overall.

Researcher Dr Derek Deasy said that victims realised the problems were bigger than the organisations involved.

“On the whole, people were not critical of the people they dealt with on a face-to-face level, but of the system in general which caused the most difficulties,” he said.

The comprehensive research on how child abuse victims are treated by legal professionals and how long it took for their cases to be resolved is due to be presented to the Psychological Society of Ireland’s annual conference in Killarney tomorrow.

It is the first study of its kind in this country and was led by Temple Street Children’s Hospital.

Overall the study tracked more than 500 child abuse cases that came through the Director of Public Prosecutions’ office and analysed their eventual outcome.

During the initial feedback section of the research 125 victims and their families were interviewed and asked to report on their experiences.

These families called for major changes in how the criminal justice system dealt with victims.

They wanted special allowances for those reporting crimes with special courts, quicker prosecutions, better surroundings and extra support.

The victims also wanted better communication and a reform in how the justice system deals with sensitive cases.

They wanted Irish trials to mimic the French model, where witnesses are interviewed rather than caught up in an adversarial battle between the defence and prosecution, the researchers found.

Each parent and child had the opportunity to comment on their experiences, with some saying the court process had a long-term detrimental affect on them.

“I was going to be listening to final statements and my whole insides fell out of me, I got sick, I really did, everything just fell out of me. A few times I felt like ending it,” said one parent, referred to only as Anne in the study.

The results of the four-year research project will be presented tomorrow to more than 600 mental health professionals attending the conference.