Editorials

The Irish Times view on domestic violence: zero tolerance

Radical steps are needed if we are to be able to say that the pandemic prompted real change for women and children in fear in their homes

If a silver lining is to be found amid the horrifying reports over the last 18 months of increases in incidence of domestic violence, it is in the response off our criminal justice system. Photograph: Frank Miller
If a silver lining is to be found amid the horrifying reports over the last 18 months of increases in incidence of domestic violence, it is in the response off our criminal justice system. Photograph: Frank Miller
Wed Sept 01 2021 - 18:42

For decades seen as a private issue, domestic violence is increasingly recognised as the criminal, human-rights abuse that it is. There remains, however, a level of silence, discomfort and shame around the issue, perpetuating society’s failure to properly tackle it.

If a silver lining is to be found amid the horrifying reports over the last 18 months of increases in incidence of domestic violence, it is in the response of the criminal justice system. As many courts reduced day-to-day business, those dealing with domestic abuse were busier than ever, hearing 10 per cent more applications for safety orders last year compared with 2019, and 8 per cent more protection order applications.

Gardaí introduced Operation Faoiseamh – a victim-centred approach with a zero-tolerance of men breaking court orders not to punch, injure, control and threaten the women in their lives.

But far more radical – and expensive – measures are needed if we are to be able to say in coming years that the pandemic prompted real change for women and children in fear in their homes. At a basic level, we do not know the true prevalence of domestic violence. Nine counties – Carlow, Cavan, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon and Sligo – have no domestic violence refuges. Of the 21 refuges with 139 units (each of which can accommodate a household), eight refuges are communal, with shared bathroom and kitchen spaces – a type of accommodation considered not fit for purpose in a refuge setting.

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Despite Ireland’s 2019 ratification of the Istanbul Convention – an international treaty on combatting violence against women – the State is still providing less than a third of the refuge spaces recommended.

Minister for Equality Roderic O’Gorman, will have a plethora of pressing issues on his plate in coming months. As the country emerges from the pandemic he must demonstrate loudly, not just with words but with policy, that all violence against women and children is always intolerable.