The ‘After Violence’ report points to serious issues in our justice system

In 2022, the Women’s Policy Group NI (WPG) conducted primary research and produced a report on the scope, scale and prevalence of VAWG in Northern Ireland. This research had over 1,000 participants and was carried out to inform our response to the joint consultation on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls and the draft Domestic and Sexual Abuse Strategy. Our feeling was that the scale of VAWG was far greater than mainstream narratives captured, and this was validated by the data. The data also showed us that women in Northern Ireland understand what work needs to be done in order to tackle VAWG, and provided us with several recommendations and valuable insights.

In 2023, we carried out another piece of research, examining the experiences of those who have reported VAWG; with the police, with courts, and with support services, as well as experiences of disclosure more broadly. We knew the numbers of respondents would be smaller, simply because so few people who experience VAWG report to anyone or seek formal redress. There were initially no plans to release a formal report; the purpose of the research was to inform our work for the GREVIO inquiry into the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, a Westminster committee inquiry into the escalation of VAWG, and to the draft VAWG Framework. In the event, just like in 2022, the scale of the responses and the depth of what was shared with us moved us to rethink our plans and produce a full report, launched as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence.

The findings are stark and the lessons profound. One of the key themes that emerged was that: women who have experienced violence, and especially those who have been through the justice system, do not have faith in the police or justice system’s ability to meaningfully tackle VAWG. This was also a key theme of our research from 2022. Another key theme that was consistent throughout both pieces of research was the important role of education in tackling the attitudes and beliefs that lead to men’s violence against women and girls. Hundreds of respondents emphasised the importance of improving relationships and sexuality education (RSE) provision in schools and the need for public awareness campaigns about the harms of VAWG.

Some of the key findings from the 2023 ‘After Violence’ research include:

·       87% of women have experienced VAWG

·       Only 27% of disclosures of VAWG were to the police

·       Only 22% of women feel comfortable reporting VAWG to the police

·       85% of women think there should be a specific mechanism for reporting VAWG to the police

·       Only 9% of women think that courts in NI take VAWG seriously

·       77% of women think convicted offenders of VAWG should take part in a rehabilitation program

·       65% of women have experienced domestic abuse

·       67% of women who have experienced domestic abuse did not report it to the police or take legal action

·       63% of domestic abuse victims who reported it to the police or took legal action said that this was a negative experience

Qualitative data from this research also showed that the most common categories of perpetrators were: 1. Intimate partner 2. Stranger 3. Colleague or acquaintance. This data also showed that the most frequently cited forms of violence were: 1. Assault/ rape 2. Domestic abuse 3. Sexual harassment. You can read the full research report on the WRDA website here.

Written by Elaine Crory and Aoife Mallon, WRDA