The Minister for Justice has expressed concern that 44 per cent of women surveyed by Women’s Aid were not satisfied with their initial engagement with gardaí over domestic abuse.
Jim O’Callaghan stressed, however, that the majority of women found gardaí to be helpful. He said gardaí are being continually trained on this issue.
The Minister said work continues within his department to create a register of domestic abusers. He is increasing funding for issues to ensure abusers, rather than victims, are the ones to leave the family home.
Mr O’Callaghan was taking questions in the Dáil, where the Women’s Aid annual report dominated. The report revealed the agency last year received the highest number of domestic abuse complaints in its 50-year history, with an increase in all forms of abuse.
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Women’s Aid highlighted concern about An Garda Síochána’s “inconsistent” response to more than 65,000 such contacts it received last year.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said there is a suite of laws dealing with domestic abuse, but these are all “ineffective if the first line of defence, the gardaí, are not implementing them adequately”.
She said, “We’ve heard from survivors who were dismissed or not taken seriously. That failure doesn’t just erode trust, it puts lives at risk.”
Mr O’Callaghan said “the majority had a positive experience”. He said “women I have spoken to who come into contact with gardaí who have had training in domestic violence have a very positive narrative”.
But he believes it is more “an issue for men and boys than it is for women, because regrettably, my sex are the sex that perpetrate this violence against women”.
[ Shocking domestic violence data adds further urgency to new strategyOpens in new window ]
He said pornography must be having an “extraordinary impact on young men “because it presents women in a very submissive, malleable manner”. “Not all the solutions are through the criminal justice system,” he said.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the report made for “grim reading”. All the statistics “are going in the wrong direction, and Women’s Aid says that this is only the tip of the iceberg”.
“Behind these statistics are real women and their children, real lives shattered. The report reflects that Government must do a far better job to achieve zero tolerance of violence against women.” She also pointed to the lack of refuge spaces and asked why women should have to leave their home rather than the abuser.
The Minister agreed it should not be the “first port of call” when a woman is abused to seek to find her another place to live.
“The response should be: ‘How can we get the abuser out of the home?’” He said there are mechanisms, including barring and safety orders, which he is committed to properly funding.
Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said “social media is supercharging” violence against women. He said the algorithms “are rewarding misogyny, disinformation and abuse because it keeps people scrolling and it keeps the companies making money”. Mr Gannon called on the Government to “regulate these recommender algorithms”.
The Minister said this issue cannot be solved through domestic legislation, but requires “an EU response”.
At the launch of the report on Wednesday, Women’s Aid chief executive Sarah Benson said domestic violence is endemic in society, but the “single greatest risk structure is being born female”.
She said people in Ireland have been talking about the issue “more than ever” over the last few years. As it becomes “increasingly destigmatised”, victims and survivors “will rightly reach out for support”. It is important this momentum continues to recognise the prevalence of domestic violence in Ireland and to reduce the number of people affected by it, she said.
