Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The war in Ukraine had only begun a week or two before International Women's Day last year. It is difficult to imagine that a 12 months on the war is still raging, with no end in sight. Last year, I started my contribution on International Women's Day by sending solidarity to the women who had fled here with their families. I reiterate that again. Also, as we are unfortunately aware, there are reports of the rape and widespread sexual assault being used regularly as weapons of war, not just against Ukrainian women but wherever there is conflict. Depressingly, as we have seen throughout history, sexual violence is not merely the action of rogue soldiers but a deliberate tactic of war.

There is a great deal we can say today, on International Women's Day. There is a lot to be celebrated and commended in acknowledging how far things have come. However, I want to concentrate my remarks on domestic violence, sexual assault and coercive control. We know from the statistics that incidents of domestic abuse attended by An Garda Síochána increased to a staggering 54,000 in 2022, up from 50,000 in 2021 and 44,500 in 2020. These are the incidents we know about that are actually reported to the Garda. Many people do not report incidents. Unfortunately, the statistics also do not reflect the number of cases that are brought to court and prosecuted. There are some excellent people doing fantastic work, particularly in the protective services unit of An Garda Síochána. I commend them on that work today. I also commend our women's refuges and organisations such as Women's Aid and Safe Ireland. However, the process from when a person reports an incident to the arrest of the suspect and the subsequent court case, if there is one, is far too slow. We can understand, when we get a glimpse into that world, why women do not report such incidents. It is very difficult for women who have been such situations, and have come out of them, to move on with their lives. They make a report and the case can drag on for years at a time. We need to see a lot more being done in terms of the actual prosecution and the speeding up of that process.

I also want to touch on an issue that we became aware of last week through the reply to a parliamentary question. It seems that places are earmarked for refuges in 2024 in Wexford, Dundalk and Offaly. Obviously, I welcome this. However, Carlow is still without a women's refuge. That campaign for one has been ongoing for some time. There is no refuge at all in Carlow. We have a fantastic facility in the Amber Women's Refuge in Kilkenny, but it is trying to facilitate both Carlow and Kilkenny. There are situations where women will not leave a horrific and dangerous situation, because if they have to try to get to their job if they are working, or to drop their children to school - and there are often children involved - and they are trying to travel from Kilkenny to Carlow without transport, it is very difficult. I was disappointed that Carlow was not higher on the list and that there is not a way of looking at all of the counties that do not have refuges and trying to prioritise them for spaces.

I want to touch on the issue of coercive control. I was shocked to note from a recent study - I forget who it was compiled by - the number of women who do not understand what coercive control is and that they could potentially be in such situations. I think that whenever we have opportunity in this House to raise awareness of it and to talk about it, we should do so. Section 39 of the Domestic Violence Act 2018 defines the parameters of controlling behaviour and coercive control. It provides that an offence is committed under the section if a person knowingly and persistently engages in behaviour that has a serious effect on a relevant person, that the relevant person fears that violence will be used against him or her or that this behaviour causes serious alarm or distress that has an impact on his or her day-to-day life. There have been seven convictions in four years. That is it. I do not even have the words for that. It is devastating to think that is where matters currently stand. I will leave it at that.

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