IASW welcomes the report published this week by Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI) – Alcohol and domestic sexual and gender-based violence – and supports the call in the AAI report, for the introduction of Operation Encompass in Ireland. Operation Encompass is a scheme whereby when police attend an incident of domestic violence or abuse where a child lives or has been present; by first thing the following day, the police inform the child's school (through a Key Adult) so that appropriate support and assistance can be provided to the child.
Children can often be the unseen victims in situations of domestic violence and abuse (DVA). We need to provide support and assistance to children affected in this way at the earliest opportunity. Operation Encompass has been operating successfully in England and Wales and more recently in Northern Ireland, for the last couple of years.
This type of approach fits with the wider drive for more joined-up thinking and action in relation to addressing Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (DSGBV), evidenced in the Government’s establishment of CUAN, the DSGBV Agency, for example. The coordination required needs to include addiction and Child and Family Services, in addition to specific DSGBV services, responses and interventions.
The IASW fully supports this call by Alcohol Action Ireland for the implementation of Operation Encompass in Ireland. We believe that it would significantly strengthen the supports to children and families impacted by DVA. While some progress has apparently been made, led by the Department of Justice, towards introducing Operation Encompass, more work needs to be done so that this initiative can be brought to full implementation. In the interests of addressing DSGBV in a more coordinated way, and specifically to help children affected, it is imperative that any legal or bureaucratic roadblocks are overcome and that the school-based programme be introduced in Ireland as a matter of urgency.
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