LABOUR PARTY candidate Michael D Higgins has told a presidential debate that financial cutbacks should not affect the safety of women and children.
Mr Higgins was addressing a Safe Ireland event hosted by RTÉ presenter Miriam O’Callaghan in Dublin yesterday.
“Indeed there will be talk of cuts and austerity. What do you say? Well you say there’s no cut should ever impact in such a way as makes your citizenship in safety impossible,” he said.
Mr Higgins said if elected president he would ensure that international day for the elimination of violence against women, November 25th, would be marked by an annual audit of progress.
Mr Higgins said he had been a sociologist, and had been shocked to learn that violence against women was a learned behaviour.
He said that in the 1970s he had often met women at his clinics in Galway who had been told by representatives of authority, including religious authorities, that they should stay with violent men.
“Violence simply has to be eliminated from our consciousness,” he said. It was a “myth” that violence against women affected only the lowest socio-economic groups.
He said some reports suggested children were more traumatised by the humiliation of a parent than the death of a parent.
In the last 15 years there had been an increase in aggression in Irish culture at every level, Mr Higgins said. “It crept into the schoolyards.”
Independent candidate Seán Gallagher said he believed alcohol was often a factor in violence against women and children. He said “psychological downgrading and emotional abuse” were problems along with physical abuse.
“It needs to be part of our national dialogue,” he added.
Mr Gallagher said young boys had to be educated in this area. He said he would be happy to stand as a role model for men and said the “weight of the presidency” should be brought to the issue.
Fine Gael candidate Gay Mitchell said that whether or not he was elected president he would do all he could to assist the work of Safe Ireland. “There is no such thing as acceptable violence or bullying,” Mr Mitchell said.
He added he would be encouraging the Oireachtas to bring forward legislation to protect children, including the promised referendum on children’s rights.
Independent candidate Mary Davis said statistics revealing the extent of violence against women and children was frightening. She told Safe Ireland she would “wholeheartedly embrace” the campaign as president.
Ms Davis said she would try to encourage a culture of philanthropy in Ireland that could help address the issue under discussion, adding she had experience in working with philanthropists. It was critical that “all strands of the community” were involved in combating violence against women and children, adding that the business community had a role to play.
Apologies were received from the other candidates for not being able to attend the event.
Safe Ireland director Sharon O’Halloran said she hoped the event would bring visibility and hope to such a serious issue. She said services were at “tipping point” and the issue needed to be taken seriously by all politicians.
“Services have been cut back every year for the past number of years and Safe Ireland itself has been told that its core HSE funding is gone from the end of the year,” Ms O’Halloran said. Her group acknowledged domestic violence also happened to men, “and we support that this issue is addressed by Government”.
