Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

We support the Bill and believe, to echo what others have said, that it needs amending. We would welcome an answer from the Minister as to whether he is open to amendments and if and when the framework as to when the Bill might be passed would be outlined to us.

We have been through an epidemic of misogyny and gender-based violence, violence against women. Sometimes, when you stop and think about it, it is quite extraordinary and you wonder what the hell is going on in the world and why this has taken off in the way it has.

It is also important to be very clear to the population, to our constituents, because there are muddled messages out there as to why we see such a high level of sexual and gender-based violence in our society. One of the messages is that the biggest threat to women and children comes from the foreigners or the refugees, particularly those who are not from Ukraine, who, it is said, come into this country and are a big threat to us all. It is said they are unvetted and a threat to women and children. We should use this opportunity, in debating this Bill, to scupper that notion and look at the statistics, the facts and the research coming from many organisations, including local ones. Deputy Barry has just shared a quote with me from a Cork rape crisis centre. There is the national rape crisis centre and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The vast majority of gender-based and sexual violence is committed and perpetrated on people by somebody who is intimately known to them. Some statistics show us that over 80% of sexual violence is perpetrated by somebody in the family or intimately known to the victim. That is a very important point that we need to use this opportunity to get across in order to cut out the hate-filled bile being quoted and permeated around our communities as we speak. I say that very genuinely to my constituents. They need to think twice about what they are hearing, what they are reading on social media and what sort of bile is being passed as genuine information to them.

Having said that, there is an epidemic of gender-based violence. The responses to it have been amazing, when we look back at the outburst after the murder of Ashling Murphy and after the murder of Sarah Everard, who was murdered in Britain by a member of the Metropolitan Police. You wonder if you can really trust any level of authority in this society. The outburst of emotion, anger and support for the victims has been extraordinary and unprecedented. Like Deputies Barry and Pringle argued, in many ways it is that response that has forced governments and ministers to look at changing the legislation around how victims of sexual and gender-based violence are used and abused in the courts. We have loads of examples of that. I will not repeat any of them here.

Also, the question of sex education is hugely important. If we go to the younger generation now with comprehensive, non-moralistic, non-ethos-based sex education and really explain to them what consent actually means and how it is implemented in one's life, then we can look forward, I hope, to future generations being much more open, much kinder to one another and much more receptive to one another. Then this sort of perpetration of sexual violence against women and girls, and sometimes against boys, will be removed from our society, not just by criminal law but by changing culture.

Having said that, we welcome elements of the Bill but we also support some of the criticisms, particularly from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. I am sure it wrote to all Members, but it is worth quoting the commission. It states:

There is still no statutory protection from prosecution for victims of human trafficking – where a person has committed a crime as a direct consequence of them being trafficked. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has clearly stated that victims should not be punished for any unlawful activities that arise as a result of trafficking ...

It is really important that we look to amend this Bill to include that. IHREC's statement continues:

The Commission is also disappointed to see that victims of sexual exploitation are still not afforded the same protections in criminal trials as victims of other sexual offences. By choosing not to extend separate legal representation to victims of sex trafficking, if there is an application to question them on their previous sexual experience, once again leaves these victims – who are disproportionately migrant women – with diminished protections in trials.

In its criticism, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre "expressed disappointment that there is no provision to ensure that victims have access to legal advice from the outset, and as they need it during the investigation and the trial process." This, it said, "was recognised as a necessary part of supporting victims on their journey through the justice system, and its absence denies victims the right to be fully informed and equipped to deal with the system, where they play such a crucial part in their own cases on behalf of all society."

Again, the question is whether we are open in progressing this Bill to amendments because there are very sensible and crucial points being made by these highly professional organisations, which are informing us of the need to amend the Bill.

Finally, like others, I pay tribute to the Women of Honour. I think many people will be surprised to know - and it is only because of the Women of Honour that we know - that persons subject to military law, in the past and up to now, when they have committed sexual offences in this State have been dealt with by court martial rather than by gardaí and civilian courts. This Bill will now change that. Court martial will apply only where those offences are committed abroad. This is a very welcome change, and all honour to the Women of Honour for campaigning to make sure that this was included in the Bill.

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