Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom tréaslú leo siúd a ghlac páirt sa tuarascáil seo. The men and women who took part in this survey, difficult and all as it may have been, did us all a huge service because we have for some time been trying to grapple with the scale and frequency of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. This data is crucial as an underpinning for any policies and the allocation of resources to the area. Notwithstanding that and the fact many would have suspected there was under-reporting, "surprising" is perhaps not the right word, but that does not mean it is not shocking to see the numbers we are talking about. Some 52% of adult women reported experiencing sexual violence in their lifetime, 28% of men reported experiencing sexual violence in their lifetime and 18% of adult women reported being raped. That is absolutely horrifying.

This type of crime is insidious, it involves betrayal, relationships breaking down and trust in someone being destroyed because of their actions and people feeling isolated. It is not the only crime like this, but it is one that has consequences that last for many years, if not a lifetime with respect to the trauma it inflicts and the emotional impact it has and what it does to a person's self-worth. It is an extremely weighty crime and deserves to be treated with great seriousness and as a priority policy area for the Department of Justice.

It is important and welcome we are having this discussion. It is even more important meaningful action comes from the discussion, and that needs to come in a variety of different ways. We must ensure we have fully-resourced safe refuges for victims of sexual abuse. Currently nine counties are without a refuge space. The consequences of not having available safe accommodation for victims are victims remaining in abusive relationships and abusive households as they have no other option to secure a safe refuge and escape the traumatic, dangerous and terrifying situation they are trapped in. In many other locations where there are refuge spaces, the number of spaces is very often inadequate and there are pressures on them. I take this opportunity to recognise the work of Cuanlee Refuge, Mná Feasa, Edel House and the other accommodation provided by the Good Shepherd services in Cork, as well as the Sexual Violence Centre.

We are clearly dealing with a challenging situation. There was a 9% increase in domestic violence year-on-year in the Cork city Garda division in the past 12 months. It is difficult to know whether that is increased reporting or increased incidents. It is very likely a mixture of both. While there has been investment in recent years, which I welcome, much more is clearly needed. It is now 15 months since Tusla published the Review of the Provision of Accommodation for Victims of Domestic Violence and we have yet to see any real, significant or regional strategy to roll out refuge spaces. We need a societal shift in how we treat and respect victims and survivors of abuse. We know this is an issue and that this approach, or the difficulties with our culture, can worsen the trauma and stop other victims from coming forward. I echo the calls from all the Deputies and Ministers to encourage women and men to speak out if they are suffering domestic abuse. We must also look at the area of education. In my role as Sinn Féin spokesperson on education, I highlighted the need for a review of, and change to, the social, personal and health education, SPHE, curriculum and especially the area of consent. It must be acknowledged that young people need to be given the appropriate tools, as much of the media in our society gives a very distorted picture of relationships and sexuality, in particular pornography, but also social media and other forms. Our young people need to be given the tools to combat that.

The completion of the first sexual violence survey is welcome. I give sincere thanks to the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and Rape Crisis Network Ireland for ensuring this desperately-needed tool is available. I am out of time so I will conclude on that.

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