OUTLAW COUNSELLING NOTES IN GENDER VIOLENCE CASES

“I never knew my thoughts, my fears, my shame, my turmoil - shared during the safety of my counselling sessions - could be shared with anyone  let alone the person who did this to me. When I realised this was happening, the bottom, once again, fell out of my world and I felt completely and utterly traumatised.”

   - Hazel Behan, survivor & campaigner

“A therapy room should be a safe space. Current legislation does not allow for that safety. Notes should only be used for the therapist’s records and clarity, never as a weapon against the client. It is utter cruelty.”

     - Anonymous psychotherapist

Access to counselling records by the accused is a further abuse of survivors of sexual violence, coercive control and child abuse. 

Victims of gender-based violence —  if they even take their case to trial — can have the legal team for the accused request access to their counselling records. The knowledge that counselling records can potentially be accessed results in many victims/survivors postponing essential therapeutic treatment, dropping cases, not reporting offences. It therefore represents a gross invasion of privacy, an attack on the right to timely treatment, and on the ability to seek justice. It is harmful and retraumatising for victims/ survivors.

Survivors of gender based violence who’ve experienced this are calling for a total ban on the use of counselling notes by the defence. Some in the judiciary argue this is needed for the right to a fair trial. Nothing essential to a defence can be found in someone’s private therapy notes. These notes are also written by a third party. 

The request for counselling records has risen in recent years. It is a purely misogynistic practice that seeks to find something to undermine and discredit victims. 

Why we need a ban:

Knowing that your counselling records might be used against you in a courtroom prevents survivors from seeking counselling/psychotherapy vital to the healing process, and from reporting gender based violence to authorities. 

It also restricts  therapists/ counsellors taking notes in a session, impacting its quality. The use of counselling notes in gender violence cases directly contradicts the right to healthcare and the right to privacy. 

Action now: 

Ruth Coppinger TD recently moved a Dail motion which included ending the use of counselling notes in court and will shortly move a Bill. Demand the Minister for Justice acts. Sign the petition to keep up the pressure.

We have a gender violence epidemic. 4 women were killed in the first 4 weeks of 2025 in Ireland. 40’000 calls were made to Women’s Aid in 2023. Over 65000 domestic violence calls were made to Gardaí.. Anti-feminist figures like Donald Trump and Andrew Tate are fuelling violent misogyny and transphobia everywhere.

The pervasiveness of gender based violence is not reflected in the number of survivors who seek justice, it being widely known that practices like the use of counselling notes are re-traumatising. 

Sign this petition to demand that the government acts immediately to outlaw this cruel practice. Survivors can’t wait.