‘Action needed on violence against women’ – Ruane

“Violence against women and children is on the rise yet the number of convictions against the perpetrators remains low,” the Sinn Féin South Down MLA said. “I have met with both Women’s Aid and the PPS to work out what more can be done to increase the number of successful prosecutions against those who carry out this violence. This was a very useful meeting but there needs to be better lines of communication developed between Women’s Aid and the PPS so that domestic violence case are given more support in court.”
“I am particularly interested in the pilot scheme being tested in Derry,” Ruane continued, “where special courts have been set up to deal with domestic violence. Special prosecutors, solicitors and judges trained in counseling victims, as well as a faster time of bringing the case to court has encouraged more people to come forward and seek justice through the courts. It is important that we create the conditions where women and children who are the victims of violence have the confidence to bring the cases against the perpetrators without fear of stigma or further violence.”
“I will be pushing for this scheme to be rolled out across the north,” she added.
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