Navigating Irish family law system is 'worse than the abuse', Women's Aid warns

'This research is very difficult but required reading for anyone who plays any part in the family justice system,' Women’s Aid CEO Sarah Benson said. File picture: Sharppix

Some adult victim-survivors of domestic abuse have described navigating Ireland’s family law system as ‘even worse than the abuse’, prompting fresh calls for urgent reforms.

The description is contained in groundbreaking new research which has found a system that causes ‘secondary victimisation’, with adult and child victim-survivors of domestic abuse being retraumatised during guardianship, custody, and access proceedings.

The research, commissioned by Women’s Aid and carried out by Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork, is the first national account of its kind.

It found that while the prevalence of domestic violence and abuse (DVA) in all family law cases is disproportionately high, the Irish system, and the professionals working in it, including barristers and judges, is not sufficiently DVA informed or responsive, with many lacking a fundamental understanding of the dynamics and impacts of domestic abuse.

This systemic blind spot leaves victims feeling disbelieved, silenced, and at risk from further abuse, Women’s Aid said.

“This research is very difficult but required reading for anyone who plays any part in the family justice system,” Women’s Aid CEO Sarah Benson said.

It tells us that sadly even where there are some examples of informed and understanding practices among some key individuals, this is completely inadequate when the system itself is not attuned and responsive to the tactics and impacts of domestic abuse post-separation.

Women’s Aid has now urged the government to fundamentally reform the family law system as part of the Family Justice Strategy, with compulsory domestic abuse training for all professionals, including judges, comprehensive screening and risk assessment protocols, radical reform of the ‘expert reports’ system, improved access to legal representation and the development of clear mechanisms to improve coordination, communication, and cooperation across all civil family law proceedings and with the criminal courts.

The research also found that:

• Two-thirds of adult victim-survivors reported that judges fail to take their experiences of DVA into account when making decisions about guardianship, custody, and access involving the perpetrator;
• Children and young people feel the system fails to listen to or respect their independent views;
• There is a continued lack of recognition that exposure to DVA constitutes child abuse and grounds for risk assessment;
• Adult survivors were put into the impossible position of having to adhere to court ordered custody and access arrangements that placed their children in harm’s way or face penalties.

Furthermore, it founds a lack of access to legal representation, time to consult and prepare for cases, huge financial burdens, and a system generally overwhelmed by volume and pressure of cases compounds an already high-stakes situation.