Child protection campaign pleads for rights vote

CAMPAIGNERS for victims of sex crime have pleaded with the Government not to back down on the promise of a children’s rights referendum after hints by Children’s Minister Barry Andrews it is to be abandoned in favour of laws that would not necessitate a public vote.

Ellen O’Malley Dunlop, chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC), said only an addition to the constitution to confirm the age of consent and recognise the concept of “strict liability” on the part of offenders could fully safeguard children against sex crimes by perpetrators who claim they didn’t know their victim’s age.

She praised the work of the all-party Oireachtas committee currently considering whether a constitutional amendment is needed or how it might be worded, but she said the talking had gone on for long enough.

“It’s now time for action. We need a referendum to amend the constitution to reinstate strict liability, ” she said.

Committee chairwoman Mary O’Rourke, who launched the DRCC’s annual report yesterday, defended the time taken by the all-party grouping in their deliberations, insisting they were meeting weekly and considering a wide range of legal advice.

Much of that legal advice, however, was in favour of writing new laws to protect children against sex crimes and holding a referendum only to insert a clause into the constitution to specifically recognise the rights of children as a distinct group.

“It’s a huge, complex area but at the end of November we are mandated to go with our report back to Government and we aim to have a body of work ready for Government at that time,” she said.

Ms O’Malley Dunlop expressed impatience with the Government generally in its attitude to legal protections for victims of sex crime. Victims who go to court are still treated as witnesses and do not have legal representation.

She cited this, and the lack of practical protections to safeguard anonymity for victims, as reasons for the low reporting rate of sex crimes in Ireland, the lowest of 20 European countries surveyed.

“When it comes to making changes, legislatively and constitutionally, which will make a difference, delays and postponements become the order of the day.

“Perpetrators do not fear the law but victims fear they will not get justice if they report the crime,” she said.