'Justice delayed is justice denied' — Sexually abused children wait up to nine years for court date

A pilot operation of the ‘Barnahus’ model in Ireland has had 255 child sexual abuse cases referred to it between November 2020 and the end of 2022

The EU-CoE Inception Report noted: “One of the main issues identified during the consultations is that children need to testify about traumatic events in a court setting that is not child-friendly.” File picture: iStock

Children who have been sexually abused are facing “undue delays” accessing the justice system in Ireland, with specialists documenting a waiting time of between two and nine years, according to a new report.

A joint European Union and Council of Europe project conducted a preliminary review of the operation of the ‘Barnahus’ model in Ireland. The model, taken from Iceland, brings together the health, therapeutic, forensic and policing services into one specialist centre to ease the trauma for child victims.