In the coming months the Supreme Audit Office will check how the system of support for domestic violence victims works in practice. As part of preparations for the audit NIK organised an experts meeting. Together with NIK auditors, the group of practitioners - whose everyday activity boils down to supporting victims and exercising impact on offenders - discussed effectiveness of applied solutions. The experts highlighted strengths and weaknesses of the system of support for domestic violence victims.
On the one hand, there are more and more tools to fight with the phenomenon. According to the Ministry of Justice representative already now we can effectively isolate victims from offenders, by placing the barring order on the latter. Starting from this year we have more new tools - the police officers may now protect victims e.g. on their way to the hearing venue, during the hearing and after they come back home. It is also possible to protect such persons in their place of residence, and in special cases even to change the place of their stay. The detective chief inspector from the Police Headquarters noted that from 1 January 2014 a special questionnaire and algorithm has been introduced to assess the health and life threat to the victims.
The experts invited to NIK also noted that the law was changed (the Code of Criminal Proceedings in particular) and adjusted to the directive which sets out minimal norms in terms of supporting domestic violence victims. That directive emphasises respect for the victim’s dignity and subjectivity by the proceeding body. It takes account of how the victims are heard and how support is provided to them.
The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act and the National Programme for the Prevention of Domestic Violence specify in detail what kind of support a domestic violence victim may expect from public bodies. However, things often look different in reality. According to the specialists, the police supervision of domestic violence offenders did not prove a good solution. It does not improve the victims’ situation or makes it even worse. Charges were laid against the prosecutor’s office which in some cases - despite information on breaching the law by the offender - did not take any actions for several weeks.
The victims of domestic violence prefer not to call the police because they fear the offender, feel ashamed or believe that by doing so they would expose their children to even more traumatic experiences in future. In 2014, the Police identified 105 thousand victims of domestic violence and 78 thousand persons suspected of using it. Nearly 78 thousand domestic violence cards were filled in by the Police and 31 thousand preparatory proceedings were instituted. Over 2300 barring orders were placed. All that, though, seems to be just the tip of the iceberg.
The survey conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy shows that from 20 to 40 percent of domestic violence victims say they received the kind of support they needed. According to the Ministry’s data, effectiveness of correctional and educational activities in case of domestic violence perpetrators can reach as much as 40 percent. The question is, though, if it is enough, considering the large scale of the phenomenon?
