Working with Domestic Abusers Victim considerations ? Criminal - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Working with Domestic Abusers Victim considerations ?

Criminal Justice System and Victims Guiding principals:

• Protection , needs and rights of victims of domestic violence is

paramount

• Directive 2012/29/EU on Victims Rights (Victims Directive)

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Article 3 - Right to understand / right to be understood

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Article 6 - Right of victims to receive information about their case

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Article 7 - Right to interpretation and translation

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Article 8 – Right to access to victim support services

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Article 10 -Right to Right to be heard

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Article 19 –Right to avoid contact between victim and perpetrator

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Article 22 –Individual assessment of victims to identify specific protection needs

Ireland’s response to EU Directive :

 Criminal Justice ( Victims Of Crime Act) 2017  Probation Service established a dedicated Restorative

Justice and Victim Services Team (2018) comprised of 1 central co-ordinator 5 Senior Probation Officers 14 Probation Officers ( regionally based) Objective : single point of contact for victims

Restorative Justice & Victim Services Team provides -

Responses to general victim queries about the Criminal Justice System Information on Probation Service Interventions with

• ffenders,

including DV Support for victims who wish to engage in a Restorative Justice process eg. Victim Offender Mediation(VOM) ( No Domestic Violence victim requests to date for VOM)

SARA Risk Assessment

 Probation Reports to Court are underpinned by the SARA  Victims are invited to contribute to the assessment

process - primary source of victim collateral information

 Victim consent for participation is sought through Police  Victim participation is voluntary  Victim safety is primary consideration  Victims interviewed separately to perpetrators in a

venue of their choosing ( EU article 19)

Probation Officer Role with Victims :

 Understand the nature and extent of domestic violence

suffered by victim

 Collateral information for SARA (do not rely on

perpetrator self report )

 Ascertain the victims perception of risk of future

victimisation

 Safety Planning concerns highlighted by victims/factors

which escalate risk noted eg. substance misuse

 Risk management plan post assessment will include

victim safety considerations

Limitations of PS Victim Involvement :

Probation officers do not adopt an

• ngoing caseworker role with victims

Victims are directed to specialist victim support services eg. Women’s Aid ( article 8) Victims are encouraged to maintain close contact with the police if they have ongoing safety concerns Police to provide information on the progress of Court case ( article 6)

Perpetrator treatment and victim contact :

 DV programme providers ( MOVE/MEND and Probation)

link victims in with specialist victim support services if they consent

 Service level agreements with victims services includes

the provision of risk information to DV treatment programme providers where victim discloses new concerns

 Selective Information provided to victims via specialist

victim’s services re. aspects of programme work which may impinge on her eg. Time Out techniques

Challenges re. Victim Involvement ?

 SARA Assessment – how to securely store victim

information – GDPR

 Maintaining victim safety a real staff concern  Information provided by victims should be directly

quoted in reports to Court unless victim wishes (provides an understanding of offender behaviour and future victimisation risks)

• Information disclosed by victims should not be shared

with offender

• Child protection concerns must be reported to relevant

authorities

Challenges continued :

 Victim Safety is best achieved through inter- agency

working ( integrated approach ) hard to get all stakeholders to the table !

 Victims can find to difficult to ‘let go’ of Probation

Officer once rapport established

 Conflicting information may be provided by victim and

• ffender where there is mutual IPV

Thankyou Carmel Donnelly, Probation Service Ireland