Opinion

Allison Morris: New domestic abuse laws must be good laws

AFTER many delays and false starts Northern Ireland looks set to get updated laws covering domestic abuse.

Last week Stormont's newly appointed justice committee was told it might be the "autumn or beyond" before new laws come into effect.

Justice minister Naomi Long believes the bill should be progressed by Stormont and not through Westminster, as would have happened had devolution not been restored.

Mrs Long had said it was a priority for people in Northern Ireland to be able to "attend committee hearings, give evidence and challenge any draft legislation" and that it would be "more convenient" to have Stormont take forward the new laws.

And in that respect she is right, as a law tailored to our specific circumstances would be better than the imperfect legislation currently operating in England.

Since coercive control was introduced in England as an offence there have only been a handful of convictions.

Almost all of those have been additional charges linked to other violent, abusive crimes.

Controlling relationships can be mentally damaging and lead to depression and even suicide in victims, both men and women.

For very young people in relationships at a time when so much of their lives are lived online, coercion entails the constant monitoring of every aspect of their day with no escape from it.

Financial abuse, denying a person autonomy over their finances so they have no means of escaping abuse, along with isolation from family and friends, is also something that features in many abusive relationships.

Not all coercive controlling relationships are violent but all violent relationships are coercively controlling.

But making this a crime without proper training of police officers, solicitors and judges is pointless as the law will remain largely unused and victims will have no more protection than they have now.

Teaching our young people from school age that all-consuming and controlling relationships are not love but abuse is a must.

Giving judges the power to issue both custodial and treatment in sentencing and not just one or the other is also crucial to protecting victims.

Abusers will continue to repeat the offending unless forced to address the harm they are doing.

And children of abusive relationships need properly protected and cared for.

A few years ago, I attended a domestic abuse conference and listened as speaker after speaker spoke of their experiences working on the front line.

We heard how children at the centre of violent altercations were often sent to school with no warning system in place to give teachers prior notice of special circumstances.

One little boy had drawn a picture of himself and his violent father and written, "I am not him and he is not me".

The truth is that children of violent relationships are more likely to either abuse or accept abusive relationships as their normality if not given proper support and help dealing with their circumstances.

Domestic abuse is a crime that impacts all genders and social classes.

While some might, as part of their own class bias, like to think it is confined to sprawling housing estates, it is not - hidden bruises can happen in homes no matter how palatial.

Victims become masters of deceit, knowing just what shade of eye shadow will cover a bruise, or what excuse to make for being absent from all social occasions.

The signs are easy to spot once you know what they are, but how many of us are looking for what we often don't want to see?

And then there are the special circumstances that exist in Northern Ireland but aren't found elsewhere, often impacting victims in a way that is unique to this place.

It might be women afraid to report a partner who is a paramilitary or police officer; making statements against a 'connected' abuser is painted as informing within their own community; and then there is the ongoing use of criminals as informers on a scale that does not exist anywhere else on these islands.

Will the justice minister be demanding that anyone convicted of a domestic crime be struck off the books and no longer paid or protected as an informer?

There were 31,531 domestic abuse incidents reported in Northern Ireland in 12 months from July 1 2018 to June 30 2019.

If you think that doesn't involve someone you know then think again.

That is why it is crucial to get this phase right so that we don't just get new laws but good laws.