Dr. Salome Mbugua:

Yes. We are hoping that whatever we have submitted on the strategy will be included, and we added additional information there. That is why we are putting these recommendations before the committee today, to ensure they are in the national strategy. At the moment, based on what we have seen, the national strategy does not incorporate these issues.

The Deputy also asked about refuges. We want them to be culturally appropriate. They have to take into account the diversity of the lived experiences of women in Ireland today, particularly the religious aspect of that. If there are Muslim women going into these refuges, for example, they have to be culturally appropriate. They may need kitchens that are halal or they may need to be provided with prayer rooms and so on. The refuge has to be culturally appropriate. People also have to understand where the women are coming from in terms of linguistics, languages, culture and all those kinds of things. When these refuges are being developed, it would be good if organisations like ours were consulted.