What is
Domestic Abuse
Court Advocacy?
Domestic Abuse Court Advocacy starts from the understanding that everyone has a right to live their life free from abuse; everyone should have access to free, independent, and accredited domestic abuse court advocacy
Domestic Abuse Court Advocacy services will, throughout the duration of the court process:
Provide specialist domestic abuse support
Offer information about the criminal justice process
Act as a conduit for client voice to be heard in the criminal justice process
Domestic Abuse Court Advocacy services must meet the following criteria:
In practice these services will carry out the following core tasks:
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Providing information to the client should always include:
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Explaining the overall criminal justice system
Explaining the overall court process
Contacting clients before and after every court hearing, including providing court
dates and outcome information
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Creating space for the client’s voice to be heard in the criminal justice process is actioned
through:
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Liaising between the client and court regarding special conditions of bail
Providing a court report to the Procurator Fiscal
Providing information regarding the client’s views on non-harassment Orders to the court
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Increasing the client’s safety throughout the court process and beyond is achieved by:
Dynamic risk assessment with the client
Safety planning, including regular reviews with the client
Contacting Victim Information and Advice (VIA) regarding arrangements/support for
clients to attend court as witnesses
Undertaking an end of support conversation
DACA workers will offer a level of emotional support by:
Being domestic abuse competent and trauma responsive throughout court proceedings
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The service must be able to complete the core tasks for the duration of the client's journey throughout the criminal justice process
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We've created a list of core tasks to develop a standardised understanding of the role in practice:
The role of the DACA worker
The following description of the domestic abuse court advocacy worker’s role was created in consultation with individuals with lived experience of domestic abuse and in consultation with a wider participatory groups facilitated by Dundee Amina. It was created in the first year of the DACA Accreditation Project. It is designed to convey the main aspects of the role in a manner that can be readily understood whilst also providing enough information to support engagement.
A Domestic Abuse Court Advocacy Worker
​If an incident is reported to the police, and it is categorised as domestic abuse, the worker can be available to you throughout the court process to give you information about court, offer safety and risk advice and support, and to be your voice in the criminal justice process​
The worker is trained in domestic abuse and responding to trauma​
The worker can explain the criminal court process to you and keep you informed with the
court case​
They can pass information to and from court. The information is always about feelings of
risk and safety and court measures like special conditions of bail​
They can help you feel emotionally prepared for court and help voice your
practical needs if you are going to court. They are not able to appear in court on your behalf​
The worker can offer space and time to talk about more than the reported incident. They
can talk with you about​:
Current risk of domestic abuse that you may be fearful of​
Safety planning options like home security options or emotional support options​
Your feelings and how the court case is impacting on you​
They can talk to you about the safety needs of your child/children​
Other local projects and supports that might be useful to you and your children. They will know how to connect you to other projects and supports​
At times, if you need them to, they will be able to speak to other agencies, to help to other agency understand the situation you are experiencing
I chose not to report very serious offences because I didn’t understand the systems or have someone to walk with me through it. I was isolated by the abuse, and I didn’t have family in this country at all or anyone who knew the system
Veena, AV Panel Member