Sexual Trauma and Abuse

328 Pages·2015·1.57 MB·English

Sexual Trauma
and Abuse:
Restorative and
Transformative
Possibilities?
A Collaborative Study on the
potential of Restorative Justice in
Sexual Crime in Ireland
DR. MARIE KEENAN
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
This report is based on the results
of a collaborative study between
Facing Forward, Ms Bernadette Fahy
and Dr Marie Keenan.
The Research Assistant Interns who helped with data
analysis [supported by the Government JobBridge
Scheme] also made a significant contribution to
this research and sincere thanks are due to Cian O’
Concubhair, Olive Lyons, Graham Loftus, Martin
Mulrennan, Hannah Gilmartin, Andrea Kennedy,
Patrice O’Donovan and Chris Kelly. Cian O’Concubhair’s
written work on accountability mechanisms in legal
systems enormously enhanced particular
sections of this report. Thanks are due to
UCD’s Geary Institute for providing office
accommodation for the Research Assistant Interns
during their time working on the project.
ISBN 978-1-905254-90-3
Author: Marie Keenan
Title: Sexual Trauma and Abuse: Restorative
and Transformative Possibilities?
Publishing School: School of Applied Social
Science, University College Dublin, Ireland
Date: November 27th 2014
Contents
Executive Summary Victim and Their Families:
P04 Restorative Justice in Sexual
Violence Cases, Opportunities
Bios and Challenges?
P08 P162
Scope, Methodology Offenders and their Families:
and Parameters Restorative Justice in Sexual
P10 Violence Cases, Opportunities
and Challenges?
Introduction and Context P196
P20
Legislators and Criminal
Sexual Offences and Justice Personnel:
the Law in Ireland Perspectives on Restorative
P32 Justice in Sexual Violence
Cases, Opportunities and
Victims and their Families: Challenges
Their Experiences of the P220
Criminal Justice and other
‘Justice’ Systems Therapists, Mediators,
P52 Bishops, Religious & Media
Personnel; Perspectives on
Offenders and their Families: Restorative Justice in Sexual
Their Experiences of the Violence Cases; Opportunities
Criminal Justice System and Challenges
P96 P264
Restorative Justice and Sexual Conclusion and
Violence: An Overview of the Recommendations
International Context P310
P142
Bibliography
P318
Acknowledgements
The Research Steering Group would like to acknowledge the many people
who contributed to the research culminating in this report, ‘Sexual
Trauma and Abuse: Restorative and Transformative Possibilities?’
We are very grateful for the initial advice received from those working
with individuals impacted by sexual violence as we began to explore the
feasibility of this study, especially the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, The Rape
02 Crisis Network of Ireland, One in Four, Forensic Psychological Services,
Towards Healing, National Counselling Service, Arbour Hill Prison Service,
the Irish Penal Reform Trust and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.
The following members of the research team conducted research
interviews on a voluntarily basis and we wish to thank them sincerely:
Frank Butler, John Curran, Jacinta De Paor, PJ Mc Gowan, Catherine
O’Connell, Nadette Foley, Marie Williams, Bernadette Fahy, Niamh Joyce,
Martin Mulrennan, Aoife Fennelly, Barbara Walshe, Marie Keenan and
Ingrid Colvin.
We thank Bernadette Fahy for sharing the training of the research
interviewers with Marie Keenan, and Sr. Geraldine Smyth OP for her
advice. We thank the paid and unpaid transcribers of all of the 100
interviews, involving 149 people.
The Research Assistant Interns who helped with data analysis [supported
by the Government JobBridge Scheme] also made a significant
contribution to this research and sincere thanks are due to Cian O’
Concubhair, Olive Lyons, Graham Loftus, Martin Mulrennan, Hannah
Gilmartin, Andrea Kennedy, Patrice O’Donovan and Chris Kelly. Cian
O’Concubhair’s written work on accountability mechanisms in legal
systems enormously enhanced particular sections of this report.
We acknowledge Dr Niamh Flanagan for her expertise in qualitative
methods and for sharing the training of the Research Assistant Interns
with Dr Marie Keenan. We thank Dr Caroline O’Nolan for her all-round
support and willingness to help. We thank Naoimh Mc Namee for her
Introduction
organisational expertise, Rebecca Graydon, Barrister at Law for sharing
her knowledge of the Irish legal system with us, and Niamh Joyce for her
work on the literature.
To the many individuals, professionals and associations who offered
psychological backup to our research participants, we offer our
sincere thanks. We acknowledge the hard work of the Facing Forward
Management Committee, especially Barbara Walshe, in securing funding 03
to continue the project and we thank our funders, University College
Dublin (seed funding), the St Stephen’s Green Trust, Sheehan and
Partners Solicitors and the Tony Ryan Trust, whose financial support
made this research and report possible.
Most importantly this research would not have been possible without
the participants in this study; those who have been harmed by sexual
violence and those who have caused such harm, all of whom shared their
experiences with us, experiences that were at times harrowing to recount.
We are grateful to you and hope this research does justice to your
stories and experiences. We also sincerely thank the families of victims
and offenders, judges, legal professionals, Gardaí, Irish Prison Service
management, prison therapists and psychologists, prison chaplains,
probation officers, therapists from NGOs and therapy centres, members of
the print and broadcast media, bishops and members of religious orders,
mediators and politicians from both houses of the Oireachtas. Our hope
is that the findings of this study will further the knowledge of Restorative
Justice and sexual violence in Ireland and encourage the development of
a pilot project for Restorative Justice in cases of sexual violence in Ireland
as a matter of urgent public concern.
Sexual Trauma and Abuse: Restorative and Transformative Possibilities?
Executive Summary
At the time the National Commission on Restorative Justice reported
in 2009, it said “While no offence should in principle be excluded from the
restorative process, certain serious offences such as sexual assaults should
be excluded from the initial phases of implementation” (NCRJ2009, p. 81).
The evidence from the research presented in this study indicates that
this cautious approach to Restorative Justice in sexual crime is now no
longer appropriate. Based on the international literature examined, the
04
international programmes contacted during the course of this study,
and (most importantly) the views of 30 victims of sexual crime, 23 sexual
offenders and a total of 149 research participants, a number of important
issues became apparent:
• Victims and offenders of sexual crime experience unacceptable and
at times debilitating delays in the administration of justice in Ireland.
• Information gaps and deficits regarding the processing of their cases
through the criminal justice system added to the trauma for victims
of sexual crime who felt peripheral to the criminal proceedings.
• The current adversarial justice system and punitive approaches
taken in public social life towards convicted sexual offenders often
results in offenders being willing to deny responsibility for their
sexual offences and take the risk of forcing the State to prove the
case against them.
• Victims of sexual crime experience unacceptable delays in the
administration of civil justice mechanisms for redress in Ireland,
which are also costly and adversarial.
• All cohorts of participants in this study report significant gaps in
current justice provision for victims of sexual crime in Ireland.
• All cohorts of participants in this study see the need for additional
justice mechanisms for victims of sexual crime, including for
Restorative Justice.
Introduction
Based on the research presented in this study the following
recommendations are made:
1. That the provision of Restorative Justice Services to respond to
the needs of those impacted by sexual crime be included in the
forthcoming second Cosc National Strategy for 2015-2020.
2. That a three-year pilot project of Restorative Justice in certain cases
05
of sexual violence be established in Ireland as a matter of urgency,
with a specified agency established for this purpose
• That a small team of appropriately trained and experienced staff
in sexual trauma and sexual violence and Restorative Justice be
appointed to this pilot project;
• That the pilot project be managed by a suitably qualified Project
Director, with appropriate administrative back-up appointed to the
team;
• That the designated agency be allocated an appropriate building in
which to carry out its work;
• That the agency be subject to review on an annual basis, with a
fuller review and evaluation after three years;
• That the pilot project be confined to cases at the post-adjudication
stage of the criminal justice process, including retrospective cases
that have been adjudicated in the criminal courts in the past,
including cases where the offender is currently incarcerated;
• That the designated agency develops a procedure immediately for
informing all victims and offenders at the post-conviction stage of
the criminal justice process of the possibility of Restorative Justice
in their cases;
• That the designated agency accepts requests from victims of sexual
crime for Restorative Justice once their cases has been adjudicated
in the criminal courts;
Sexual Trauma and Abuse: Restorative and Transformative Possibilities?
• That victim requests for Restorative Justice are processed
immediately with follow-up meetings and preparatory
conversations initiated;
• That offender requests (post-conviction) for Restorative Justice be
carefully logged by the designated agency, but not initiated unless
the victim in the case requests Restorative Justice;
• That the designated agency accepts referrals from all agencies for
Restorative Justice for relevant cases – post-conviction;
• That the designated agency be state funded;
• That the designated agency work in collaboration with all justice,
health, child protection and welfare agencies in the state in
carrying out its mission;
• That the designated agency be charged with establishing a select
committee (of judges, legal professionals, therapeutic services and
NGOs) to advise the Minister for Justice and Equality and other
relevant Ministers on the legal, social and procedural infrastructure
required to consider Restorative Justice being extended to other
types of sexual violence cases;
06
• That the select committee be charged with delivering a report to
the Minister for Justice and Equality and other relevant Ministers
within eighteen months from the date of its formation;
• That the designated agency be charged with initiating a public
awareness campaign on Restorative Justice for all levels of crime
forthwith;
• That the designated agency be charged with logging a record of all
requests for Restorative Justice, including those that do not fit the
criteria and to conduct consultation and research as necessary to
assess further community need and interest.
3. That in line with article 12 of the ‘EU Directive 2012/29/EU to
establish and protect minimum standards on the rights, support and
protection of victims of crime’, victims of sexual crime need to be
informed about available Restorative Justice services, as these are
developed to meet their specific needs over the coming years.
4. That State-funded support and legal advocacy services be developed
nationally to avoid regional differences in the availability and
standards of services for all victims of sexual crime who report their
victimisation to the Gardaí, the HSE or other specialist services.
Victims of sexual abuse and violence need prompt access to
information on the operation of the criminal justice process.
Introduction
5. That in line with the ‘EEU Directive 2012/29/EU to Establish and
Protect Minimum Standards on the Rights, Support and Protection
of Victims of Crime’, that the Garda Síochána establish specifically
trained Victim Liaison Officers to be available nationally to offer a
support service to complainants who report a sexual crime to them.
These specialist Gardaí would accompany complainants through
the investigative and criminal process, offering them support and
keeping them informed of all developments in their cases. This
service will fulfil the State’s responsibility to these victims with
‘specific protection needs’ and should be accompanied by increased
funding for the complementary independent services already offered
by the Rape Crisis Network Ireland, One in Four, and the Dublin
Rape Crisis Centre and other advocacy services for victims of sexual
violence, which cover attendance at the Sexual Assault Treatment
Units, Garda stations and Court hearings.
6. To recognise the need to focus on the ripple effects of crime, that new
and existing Victim Support Services for victims of sexual crime be
extended to the families of complainants and to all secondary victims
of sexual crime, including the families of persons accused of sexual
offences.
07
7. That current Government policy on reducing the unacceptable
delays in criminal investigations in sexual crime be expedited with
the necessary resources and infrastructure allocated to an Garda
Síochána, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and
the Courts Services as a matter of justice for victims and accused
persons.
8. That the Irish Prison Service expand their restorative initiatives in
Irish prisons to include restorative circles for incarcerated offenders,
with the input of victims of similar crimes, to be modelled on
international best practice.
Sexual Trauma and Abuse: Restorative and Transformative Possibilities?
Bios
Marie Keenan is a Systemic Psychotherapist, Restorative Justice
Practitioner, Researcher and Lecturer at the School of Applied Social
Science, University College Dublin and a member of the Advisory Board
of UCD’s Criminology Institute. She is joint Principal Investigator with Dr
Estelle Zinsstag, KU Leuven, on a European Commission funded Daphne
III project on “Developing integrated responses to sexual violence: An
interdisciplinary research project on the potential of Restorative Justice”.
08
Before taking up a teaching and research position at UCD she worked for
more than twenty years, initially as a social worker and later as a forensic
and systemic psychotherapist. While currently lecturing and doing
research she also practices as a systemic and forensic psychotherapist
and Restorative Justice practitioner. Her recent publications include Child
Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: Gender, Power and Organizational
Culture, (2012) Oxford University Press, and Broken Faith: Why Hope
Matters (2013) Oxford: Lang, with Pat Claffey and Joe Egan (Eds).
Email: [email protected]
www.ucd.ie/appsocsc/staff/drmariekeenan/
Bernadette Fahy M.Sc. is a Counselling Psychologist. She is an advocate
for former residents of Industrial Schools and Magdalen Laundries. She
is the author of ‘Freedom of Angels’, a memoir of her childhood spent in
Goldenbridge Industrial School. Bernadette has also conducted research
on the subject of ‘The Role of Counselling in the lives of People Raised in
Care in Ireland’.
Email: [email protected]
Introduction