Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to speak in support of the Domestic Violence Bill, introduced by the Minister, Deputy Flanagan. I thank him for getting the Bill to this point. Having listened to proceedings up to now, I am looking forward to everybody's co-operation and what, hopefully, will be a very helpful and informative debate at the end of which we will have we will have legislation on which we can all agree.

There is a group of people dedicated to this cause and our advocacy for it should probably be far more widespread. In considering domestic violence, there are no Opposition and Government sides. There are no ideological differences between us when we talk about our aspirations. There is no left or right, no rural or urban; we just want to do what is right. I do not think it is the season of goodwill that has us united today. I think it is a very important topic because domestic violence is a scourge that is present in every part of our society from the smallest of rural towns to our largest cities. It affects people of all ages from pre-teenagers right up to the elderly. Although most of our comments assume that women are the victims, we must also recognise that quite a large number of men are also victims of domestic violence.

A few weeks ago, I attended an event at Dublin's Wood Quay organised by Women's Aid. I was lucky enough to launch the latter's report on femicide last year. This year was more of a remembrance for women murdered in Ireland. We held a minute's silence, which did not seem long enough given the testimonies and stories that had been told earlier that day by the relatives and friends of some of the victims. At the event in question, we were reminded that 216 women have died violently in Ireland since 1996, which amounts to nearly one woman murdered every month since 1996. It reminds us that this is not an historical issue; femicide is an issue right here, right now.

Some 56% of the women who were murdered were killed by either a current partner or a previous partner. We warn our children - as we were warned when we were growing up - particularly our daughters to be afraid of the fellow who might jump out from behind the bush or somebody one does not know. We never talk to our children, other family members or friends about that stranger in the home, the person with whom we have shared our bed, our life, our hopes, dreams and aspirations, and somebody we have loved and, in many cases, who said they loved us.

One number sticks in my mind from the event to which I refer because up until that point I was not aware of it. The number we all should remember is 2.8. Men who have killed a partner - either a current partner or a former partner - receive shorter prison sentences than those who have killed somebody they did not know. On average, their sentences are 2.8 years shorter than the person who receives a sentence for killing someone he or she did not know.

I know I am not supposed to be critical of our Judiciary, and I do not mean what I am about to say in a bad way. Based on our judicial history, somehow we are sending out a particular message to women who are lying on their kitchen floors having had their eyes swollen from punches they received or having being winded from kicks while they were pregnant. Domestic violence is far more prevalent when a woman is pregnant. Perhaps she had her skin slashed with a knife in the various engagements that take place in this domestic aggressive society we live in. The message we are sending to those women is that it could have been worse; it could have been a fellow that she did not know. I find that bizarre. It is unacceptable that a man who harms a woman he knows is somehow considered less of a criminal than a man who hurts a woman he does not know. It should be the exact opposite.

A home - my home and that of everyone here - is a refuge. It is where we go to be safe, warm and to put our slippers or our tracksuits on. It is everything to us. It is where we share love, fondness and memories of happy times with the people who are the most important in our lives. However, a woman is more likely to be killed in her home than in any other location. There is something dreadfully wrong with that, which is why we must do something to identify domestic abuse in all of its forms and protect those women, and men, from it, remove and deactivate the perpetrators and, ultimately, eliminate this scourge from our society.

We must also recognise that domestic abuse is not just about violence because threats and other non-violent actions can have exactly the same effect as physical blows. Bullying and psychological abuse have devastating consequences. When a man threatens to harm or kill a woman's children, first, she has no reason to doubt him and, second, it has to be the most guttural response of a mother or, indeed, a father to protect his or her children, even when it is at his or her own expense. That level of psychological abuse is happening in the towns and villages we all represent today.

We all know that words sometimes speak much louder than actions because when we get to a certain level of psychological abuse, we tend to mix it up in our heads and make it all the more fearful. What is so powerful about psychological abusers is the control they have over their victims. We are all well aware that, in the main, that is what this is all about. Domestic , sexual and psychological violence are all about control and power.

I want to touch on the important provisions in the Bill and the areas it will address. There is an extensive list of factors the courts must now consider when dealing with applications for domestic orders. Safety orders will be available to people who are in intimate and committed relationships but who are not cohabiting. Somebody does not have to be living with the person for them to have the same control and power over them as somebody who is living with them. Victims of violence who are cohabiting or are parents of the perpetrator will be able to apply for emergency barring orders. These orders will last for up to eight days, which will give people that breathing space of peace and clarity of thought to be able to address the immediate issues on hand. Emergency barring orders may be granted even if the victim has no legal or beneficial interest in the property they are living in or has an interest which is less than that of the perpetrator. What difference does it make? We want the person to be safe. It is not about property or one-upmanship. It is about keeping safe a person who is being abused. This measure is intended to weaken the economic grip that in most cases men have over the victims they are abusing.

It will be possible for a court to prohibit a perpetrator from communicating with the victim electronically. We live in a wonderful new world of social media and, in many ways, it is fabulous, even though it does not feel that way in my house when I am trying to get the children off the Wi-Fi in order that they might go to bed. There is a whole new level of access whereby people have the most manipulative control and power - on a 24-7 basis - over the people they want to abuse. It is very important that all our laws change and reflect evolving society so this particular piece is vital.

The Bill, when enacted, will provide protection against cross-examination of the persons. The courts will be required to give reasons for decisions they will make with regard to applications. It will be possible for victims to give evidence by live television as opposed to being in the presence of the person who has abused, maligned and terrified them for weeks, months and, in some cases, years.

The enactment of the Bill will grant victims the possibility of being accompanied to court with those they need to support them. Deputy Bríd Smith put it beautifully earlier. The women and men we are talking about are not the confident people we know. Even when we realise that somebody we know is being abused physically, mentally, sexually or whatever is on the list of abuses, the private and public person are sometimes two very different people. We might believe someone is a confident person in their own home but when they are being controlled and manipulated they are no more confident than somebody who is obviously not. The person can be a family friend, a member of the family or a supporter or community worker from some of the organisations mentioned earlier, including the National Women's Council of Ireland or the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.

It will be really important that children have the opportunity to make their views known to the court under the new Bill. Sometimes the children are being protected by the mother, but even with the best will in the world, violent behaviour certainly has an enormous impact on the children living households where this occurs. The court will have the option of appointing an expert to assist it in ascertaining the views of the child, because it cannot be done in the manner to which we are accustomed. There will also be an obligation to offer information about domestic violence and support services to victims, although I am quite sure that people who get as far as the courtroom have already been supported by somebody. There will also be the possibility that the perpetrator engages with services aimed at the perpetrators of domestic violence and-or addiction and counselling services.

Restrictions will be put in place on attendance by the general public at these criminal proceeding for breach of civil domestic orders. The only reason for that is to try to protect the dignity of the person who has had their dignity stripped away from them by somebody they love. While the media will be able to report, we want to make sure that the reports ensure that the dignity of the person that is being abused is respected and that their close children and families are protected.

A new criminal offence of arranged or forced marriages will be created, and we will also provide for a new criminal offence of coercive control, which is also very welcome. There were some very welcome changes made to this Bill in the Seanad and, as Deputy Shortall said, there are one or two further amendments that will be put forward that I will fully support. The main reasons I am supporting this Bill are that in its current form it gives us the best opportunity to improve the lives and circumstances of thousands of women and children living in our communities who are suffering from domestic violence. If I learned anything from my attendance at the Women's Aid events a couple of weeks ago and a year ago, it is that these women are people we might meet in the post office. I meet them in the morning when I drop my children to school and at GAA club matches when I am watching my children. They are people one would never suspect of being in difficulty because they are so proud that they protect themselves. We need to open up this conversation not to make it normal, but to make it acceptable for somebody to be able to reach out and get help. We must get rid of the spectacle that occurs when we hear stories of men who have take the lives of their wives or partners or have viciously or brutally hurt and damaged a woman, and where we hear about the surprise of a community because he was the pillar of society or was involved in sports clubs. This business of trying to normalise these actions and make them acceptable is something that we really have to get away from.

Domestic violence is a scourge on this society, and it has been for many years. It is not new, and it certainly has not gone away. I give my full support to this Bill. I thank the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, and all of his officials, who have done tremendous work over the past number of months on this Bill. It is probably one of the most important pieces of legislation we will pass in this House.

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