NI judge calls for domestic violence to be taught in schools
Reading time: 1 minute
Credit: Google Street View
Children should be taught about domestic violence at school to cut offending, a Northern Ireland judge has said.
Judge Barney McElholm, of Londonderry Magistrates’ Court, told BBC News NI that there has been an increase in the number of domestic abuse cases coming before him.
The judge said: “There needs to be a coordinated, planned change to the school curriculum whereby the school curriculum is to focus on the whole question of domestic violence, abuse, the wider question of respect for each other as human beings.
“If that’s successful that will lead to less offending.”
He added: “Domestic abuse is like an evil ugly plant that spreads its roots throughout the whole of society, it can go down from generation-to-generation.”
Judge McElholm also said he had noticed an increase in cases involving non-fatal strangulation, which is due to become a standalone offence under the Justice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Act 2022.
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said it was aiming towards the enactment of the relevant provisions by this summer.
Share this article:
Subscribe to our newsletter to not miss articles like this one:
SUBSCRIBE
