Policing Authority says domestic abuse is 'mental violence' for children affected

Policing Authority submission says children interact with gardaí for many reasons — involvement in crime, as victims of domestic and sexual abuse, being removed from their home for their safety and when experiencing a mental health crisis. Picture: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

The Policing Authority has said domestic abuse is a form of “mental violence” for children and they are entitled to effective measures to protect them.

The watchdog has also said resourcing of local sexual violence and domestic abuse units continues to be an issue and there is “inconsistency” in the Garda enforcement of domestic violence orders.

In a submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the authority also repeats serious concerns it has about the ongoing backlog of unexamined digital devices in cases of sexual abuse and exploitation.

As reported in the Irish Examiner last August, the authority flagged the “potential harm to children and delayed prosecutions” resulting from the persistent delay, now at three years.

The committee is a body of experts that monitors and reports on the implementation by signatory states of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The submission says children interact with gardaí for many reasons — involvement in crime, as victims of domestic and sexual abuse, being removed from their home for their safety and when experiencing a mental health crisis.

It says there has been “considerable success” in relation to keeping children safe and specialist resources have been put in place — but says there was “no overarching policy” regarding children and policing.

On the impact of domestic violence, it says: “The authority is mindful that exposure to domestic abuse is a form of mental violence and that children who are victims of domestic violence are particularly vulnerable and entitled to protection in the form of effective deterrence against serious breaches of their personal dignity.” 

The authority says there has been some positive developments in this area, including Operation Faoiseamh, which was set up in 2020 in response to increase domestic abuse calls during the pandemic.

It says more than 43,000 calls were responded to and more than 11,600 criminal charges brought.

The authority also highlights the establishment of Divisional Protective Services Units (DPSUs) to investigate sexual and domestic violence.

It says the recent authority-commissioned report into cancelled 999 calls found domestic violence calls were closed in contravention of Garda policy.

As a result, some crime reports were not investigated because too much time had passed and there were also incidents where a victim could not be identified and that the extent of the harm was unknown.

“There is also a risk to preventing harm if a pattern of alleged crime is not recorded and responded to from both an evidential perspective and from the perspective of deterring an individual from engaging with the police service again,” it says.

Children may have had calls cancelled inappropriately and suffered indirect and direct harm and different types of violence covered under the convention as a consequence.”

On demands placed on gardaí to deal with mental health crises, the authority says there is a need for greater involvement of relevant agencies and improved availability of community mental health services.

It says Garda stations do not appear to be a suitable location for child during a mental health crisis and alternative places of safety would be better.