Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Coppinger for using Private Members' time to introduce this very important motion and for providing an opportunity to discuss it. I also welcome that the Government will not oppose the motion, although I share the same scepticism and concerns that have been aired by colleagues to the effect that we really need to see action on this issue. This is a scourge on our society. It is a scourge of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. The reality is that all of us know somebody who is either experiencing or has experienced gender-based violence, whether or not we know it.

I commend the motion because it speaks to all four pillars of the Istanbul Convention. These are prevention, protection, prosecution of domestic and gender-based violence and the co-ordinated policies we need to mitigate it. I also welcome there is a focus on the justice system. Although we have seen improvements in recent years, and we have seen the establishment of Cuan, which needs the resources to match its remit, it is simply the reality that the justice system continues to retraumatise victims. The areas in which it specifically does so include, for example, character references and the release of counselling notes. It is important that we address the justice system and the retraumatisation of victims and survivors of domestic violence and instead create a pathway for them to access justice which is welcoming and assists and supports them the whole way through.

In my interaction of working with and speaking to those on the front line of dealing with domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, they described to me the fragility of the process that it takes women to come forward. When we see these problematic features of our justice system we can see how this fragility is shattered. Why would people come forward when they know they will be faced with this and when they know that prosecutions are so problematic? Of course, this fragility is exacerbated by things beyond the justice system. I call out particularly the accommodation issue. The Housing for All programme does not mention this matter. We know there are not refuges in enough counties to even meet the Istanbul Convention parameters. We need to make sure these spaces are available so when women come forward they are met with a response that can support them.

I want to focus on two words in the motion, namely "challenge misogyny". It is the reality that it is our patriarchal society in which we live that tolerates this misogyny. It perplexes me that we as policymakers and legislators do not connect enough the misogyny we see underlying domestic, sexual and gender-based violence with the everyday sexism that women experience and with the gender order that we simply tolerate in our society. It is the case that women are paid less, we take on more of the unpaid and underpaid care work in society, we have poorer outcomes when it comes to employment and we experience, as half of the population, everyday sexism in our day-to-day lives. I have been in the Dáil three months and have been called a girl multiple times by colleagues. This is not okay. We see on the Cabinet benches a dearth of women and on the Government benches an underrepresentation of women. All of this says to me that we are still a sexist society. We need to connect on the spectrum the sexism we experience with the misogyny that underpins it.

I agree with the Minister for Justice that this is not just a legislative issue. It is a broader societal issue and we need to speak to it. There is plenty that we, as legislators, can do.

I emphasise the need for more legislation in respect of the online space.

I researched pornography and violent pornography and the impact they have on young children about ten years ago. At the time, there were tools being touted around age verification and so on. We have done nothing. When we talk about pornography, people immediately put forward the argument of free speech and the fact that pornography has been around for ages. We did not previously have what we have now, which is the ubiquity of pornography and the message it is sending to young men and women about how to behave in a sexual environment. Our young men are being exploited and groomed by figures in the online space who are having a significantly problematic impact on them. We need to address these matters and we can, as legislators, do so.

I commend those people who work in this space and who, I believe, take on a role for which the State should have responsibility. I refer to the NGOs that support women in coming forward and rebuilding their lives. I thank our guests in the Gallery for coming and for being a part of this discussion.

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