Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on the Bill. It is a pity there are not more people here and that a number Members have not taken up their speaking slots. It is an important issue. While we recognise that it is a Friday in the run up to Christmas, it is still important to come to the House to contribute to the debate. The Bill includes several very welcome new provisions. They have been welcomed by all of the organisations working in the area, including Women's Aid, the National Women's Council of Ireland, SAFE, Barnardos and others. There has been extensive consultation with these groups in the preparation of the Bill and during the course of its passage through the Seanad. A great deal of consideration was given to the Bill in the Seanad where many of the Members contributed and proposed amendments. The Minister was open to that. It was suggested that we might try to get the Bill through before Christmas, but it would be a mistake to rush it today bearing in mind that some people are unavailable. I am sure there are others who want to contribute and that there are amendments which still need to be made to the Bill. It is very nearly there but it can certainly be improved by the addition of further amendments. I hope the Minister is open to that.

The Bill allows us to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combatting Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul convention. We have been talking about the convention for some time and it is good that we are now at a point where we will hopefully be in a position to sign up fully to it and to commit to all of its provisions. The problem of domestic violence is a very prevalent one and has been for some time. For a long time, no one spoke about it and it is only in the last 20 to 30 years that it has come out from behind the shadows with people beginning to talk about their experience of domestic violence. Clearly, it is a very personal issue and a difficult topic to discuss. Very often, people were not believed when they spoke about it in the past or were thought to be exaggerating. Going back not all that long ago, and certainly not 100 years ago, there was a view that if a woman was complaining, there was something wrong with her rather than with her partner. There was also a sense that the views of the man of the house should hold sway and that he was the boss. It is not that long ago that this was the view and it was very much supported by official Ireland in terms of property rights, etc. Thankfully, the last 30 years or so have seen us become more enlightened.

Ireland has become a more equal society in gender terms. In fairness, we should recognise that much of that progress was initiated from Europe. It was not necessarily our own domestic Governments which led the way. We were brought to a fairer, more open and progressive approach as a result of EU legislation in the main. That is a very positive thing arising from our membership of the EU.

I remember, and it is not that long ago, when domestic violence was mainly whispered about and discussed behind the scenes. People did not feel they could raise it publicly. This was especially true given that the problem of domestic violence crosses all classes and creeds in our society. Women who were in marriages or relationships with more vocal and, perhaps, more influential partners often found it even more difficult because they found it hard to be believed when the people concerned might have been regarded as pillars of society, prominent people and people who were regarded as virtuous, as it were. It was thought they could not possibly do anything wrong and what they said would be believed, while at home they often were different people. Their partners had great difficulty getting assistance to deal with somebody who was violent, coercive and undermining of them at home.

There are many reasons for that. Again, this applies across the board irrespective of a family's financial or other circumstances. There was a prevailing culture which was about the man generally being the person in the right and the woman needing to get on with it and not complain. There were also situations in respect of housing whereby it was very difficult for a woman to speak out about violence in the home and to be in a position to take action in respect of it. There are many reasons that women did not come forward in the past and still do not do so to this day. They principally relate to the controlling attitudes their partners might have. It is often the result of fear.

Domestic violence can be physical or sexual violence, but it can also be psychological violence and coercion. In such situations, generally the problems do not arise overnight. They start with, perhaps, raised voices in a row and they become more threatening. Often it might just involve a push or a slap, but that can go on to become something much more serious. Due to the slow development of problems like this in relationships, it is quite insidious. It reaches the point where it is not just that something happens and a woman responds to it, but over a long period it can result in undermining the woman, her confidence, belief in herself and her ability to take action. She can sometimes doubt herself and wonder if it is her fault. In many cases, women feel they are not in a position to take action because they fear for their safety. If a partner or husband is violent and if the woman takes a stand against it, complains or threatens to take action, often that results in the woman being subjected to even more vicious violence.

Women find themselves in a very difficult situation. Often this arises because of the lack of freedom many of them have in terms of their options. That is the reason it is essential to have good quality services for the victims of domestic abuse and violence so we can offer people in that situation the option of assistance through a help line and also in respect of being able to move out of the family home if that is the right thing to do, being able to remove themselves and potentially their children from a dangerous and violent situation and providing refuge for people in that situation.

Taking that step and removing oneself and one's children from a dangerous and threatening situation can often be determined by the financial status of the woman. If a woman does not have her own independent income and access to her own resources, it is obviously far more difficult in those circumstances. The question of housing is critical where it is simply not an option for a woman in a long-term relationship or marriage with children to up and leave because, too often, there are no alternatives. We know that this is the case. We know that the supply of refuge housing is very limited. While things have improved somewhat in recent years, there is a very high demand for refuge beds and places. Certainly demand exceeds the current supply. Overall, it can be very difficult for a person actually to stand up to a partner who is bullying and threatening them and who threatens to take action regarding children.

We have come a long way in Ireland in terms of recognising the existence and prevalence of this problem and its insidious nature. I pay tribute to a number of organisations that work in this area and provide essential helplines for women who find themselves in this situation so that they can ring up, talk to somebody who understands the nature of the problem and get advice from them on the best way to handle the situation and what action they can take, be it through the legal system or in terms of leaving the family home and moving to a refuge. Critical advice is also provided about where they can access legal advice and their legal rights in situations like that. Helplines are extremely important. Very often, contacting Women's Aid or one of the other organisations and getting that help over the phone is the only lifeline for women in violent situations. Very often, people are ashamed to do that, which they should not be. We need to send that message out loud and clear. Too often, women think they are responsible for it when, of course, in the vast majority of cases, that is not true at all. For that reason, it is important that there be easy access to the kind of advice that will enable a woman to take herself out of that situation or bring an end to it in the family home through access to a barring order. The refuge places provided by a number of those organisations are essential. Very often, they amount to a life-and-death situation. Being able to move to a safe house, possibly late at night, with children is a lifeline for people. It literally can be a matter of life and death for them. A reasonable supply of refuge places around the country is essential if we are going to deal with this problem in a serious way.

I very much welcome the new offence of coercive control. It takes account of the kind of insidious form of domestic violence about which I have spoken and which is such a frequent aspect of this very serious social problem.

I commend all the people who have been involved in this, apart from the organisations I have already listed, and the Members of the Seanad who did a lot of work in improving and amending the legislation and getting it to this point today.

As others have said, Women's Aid is very supportive of the legislation and has contributed a lot to it. It has identified a number of gaps in it and is very keen that we, in this House, address those gaps. I hope we have an opportunity to do that in January. I hope the Minister will be open to further improvements and amendments to the legislation. Women's Aid says the major gap in what it regards as an otherwise very positive Bill is a missed opportunity to improve the safety and welfare of children escaping or witnessing domestic violence. My colleague, Councillor Cian O'Callaghan, also brought this to my attention in recent weeks. He has received a number of representations in this regard.

There are two areas in which the Bill could positively impact on children experiencing domestic violence. The first is to ensure their safety needs are assessed and addressed when granting a barring order and the second is to minimise the possibility that they may become homeless when escaping domestic violence with the non-abusive parent. Women's Aid has made a substantial submission in this regard. It is a particularly important aspect of its outstanding concerns.

The link between child abuse and domestic violence has been clearly established, with domestic violence being a very common context in which child abuse takes place. That is a very important thing to bear in mind. It has also been found that the more severe the domestic violence, the more severe the abuse of children in the same context. Women's Aid says that international research documents the co-occurrence of child abuse with domestic violence and the impact of domestic violence on the developmental needs and safety of children. Exposure to domestic violence is recognised as a form of emotional abuse with detrimental effects on children's well-being as acknowledged in Children First. The provisions in the guidelines for the protection and welfare of children need to be taken on board to a greater extent in this legislation. Women's Aid is pleased that exposing children to violence inflicted by the respondent on the applicant has been included on the list of factors the court shall consider when determining an application for an order under the Bill. That is provided for in section 5.

As Barnardos has recently confirmed, the way children experience domestic violence is complex. Their awareness of it is often underestimated by adults and therefore its impact is underestimated. There is an urgent need to create more robust legislation and procedural links between domestic abuse and child abuse. When a court grants a barring order, it is found that the respondent poses a significant risk to the welfare and safety of the applicant. Research and the experience of Barnardos and Women's Aid suggests there is a high probability that the safety and welfare of children of the family is also jeopardised. Therefore, this risk should be assessed and mitigated. Unfortunately, Women's Aid says that in its experience, when barring orders are granted to protect a woman from her abusive partner, there is often no assessment process to look at the safety and well-being of children. For that reason, Women's Aid believes it is a gap in the Bill and has requested that Members of the House propose an amendment to that effect. I hope to do that.

I will make a number of small points in the course of the consideration of the Bill on Committee Stage.

Otherwise, I very much welcome the Bill. It is excellent legislation that is very much needed. We look forward to just a few other amendments to ensure that it will deal with all aspects of this most serious problem.

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