CCChat-Magazine_5

CCChat talks to:
Frank Mullane
CEO, AAFDA
“What needs to happen is that the status of victims and the
families left behind after homicide needs to be raised”
Frank Mullane
Q: In your time working with families
bereaved through homicide, what would
you say has been the most profound
change?
The introduction of victim impact
statements was useful. We have also seen
the appointment of a chief coroner,
statutory domestic homicide reviews, the
Crown Prosecution Service engaging with
victim’s families, and the appointment of a
victims’ commissioner nationally and for
London. Of these, the most profound has
been domestic homicide reviews although
they have a long way to go before looking
like the reviews I want them to be. But the
most profound feeling is that there hasn’t
been enough change! In cases of domestic
homicide, victim’s families sufer a similar
lack of status and power to the victims
themselves, and institutions often consider
their perspective and agenda to be superior
or more well-informed than the victim’s. So
despite signiicant improvements in the last
few years to the way victims’ families are
treated after homicide, and the sensitive
and caring attitude of many professionals
who treat them with the respect and
inclusiveness they deserve, their needs are
still not intrinsically a part of many criminal
justice and other state processes.
And the outcome for many victims and
families is a status gap between them and
those employed to carry out these
processes. As Professor Armour said
“violent death is considered a public issue
where the need for justice takes
precedence over the needs of homicide
families.” (Armour 2002)
Q: What do you think still needs to be
done and how might that be achieved?
Not all agencies commissioning services
understand what families’ needs are after
domestic homicide. Families consistently
say that they need to know facts of the
case and to witness and/or be a part of
change. They need proper advocacy for this
but this is rarely recognised. This does not
have to be a lawyer. Lay advocates who are
expert and specialist can do this. This is
what we do in AAFDA and we have walked
in similar shoes to the people we are
helping. What needs to happen is that the
status of victims and the families left
behind after homicide needs to be raised.
They need to be treated as important and
key stakeholders and to be treated as such.
But the reality is that they are often not
treated this way. Without specialist and
expert advocacy the families will not get
appropriate status. For example, in
domestic homicide reviews, families are
2018 is the Year For Making The Invisible Visible