Marie Brown, CEO of Derry’s Family Justice Centre and Foyle Women’s Aid, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Philips, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Fleur Anderson, District Judge Barney McElholm and retired High Court Judge Mr Justice Tom Burgess
Marie Brown, CEO of Derry’s Family Justice Centre and Foyle Women’s Aid, made her remarks during Wednesday’s visit to the Centre by Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Philips, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Fleur Anderson.
She said: “I welcome the Minister’s visit because I am concerned about the dire situation for victims and survivors of abuse in Northern Ireland, due to the multi-faceted problems such as housing and barriers faced within the criminal justice system.”
The Foyle Family Justice Centre on Bishop Street is the first of its kind in Britain and Ireland.
It opened in 2022 and is a unique trauma-informed interagency response to victims of domestic and sexual violence where agencies work in a same building to provide a wrapround service.
The Family Justice Centre model has been specifically designed to increase and improve access to joined-up holistic support services for all victims and survivors of domestic and sexual abuse.
The co-location of relevant agencies prevents re-traumatisation of victims, who only have to relate their experiences once, and promotes collaborative, effective responses to keep families safe.
During their visit, the ministers met with survivors, staff and board members to learn about the work of the Centre and its new approach to bringing services to victims of domestic and sexual abuse.
They spoke with survivors of domestic abuse who shared their experiences of navigating services in the North and the issues facing survivors.
They also met Patron of the Family Justice Centre, Judge Barney McElholm and chairperson, former High Court judge Mr Justice Tom Burgess, before being shown around the facilities at the purpose-built facility.
Ms Philips and Ms Anderson were then given a presentation by Aisling Swaine, Professor of Peace, Security and International Law at University College Dublin.
Professor Swaine is the author of the recently published report: ‘When you know what they are capable of: Paramilitary-related Gendered Coercive Control’.
Professor Swaine, a Family Justice Centre board member relayed the key insights of her research which is based on the experiences of women from Derry and the rest of the North.
Commenting on her visit, Minister Anderson said: “The work of the Foyle Family Justice Centre in the local community is important.
“We met with survivors of domestic abuse, and spoke with frontline staff who are on the ground supporting women impacted by violence.
“The scale of these issues, here and right across the UK, is intolerable and the solution requires a partnership approach across society.”
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