Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

The crisis in gender-based violence continues to devastate our society. The number of domestic violence cases rose by 20,000 in the past four years alone. Women and children are bearing the brunt of this crisis, the impact of which is being felt in every constituency across the country, including that of Mayo, which has experienced its highest number of domestic abuse cases in over a decade. The Covid-19 pandemic, when the Government's message was to stay at home, caused a major difficulty for so many victims of domestic violence. For most of us, our homes places of solitude, protection and so on, but the pandemic gave rise to a difficult scenario whereby victims were essentially trapped in their homes with their abusers. The case of Natasha O'Brien was really shocking. We should not need to rely on brave victims, which is what Natasha is, to seek the justice they deserve. We do need tougher sentencing. Natasha's case underlines the very lenient sentencing that obtains when it comes to domestic violence.

I also want to raise an important issue regarding the release of prisoners. It is unacceptable that the victims of domestic abuse only learn of the release of their perpetrators when they meet them in shops, clubs and so on in their communities. We owe it to the victims to give them the respect they deserve. We must also give them information in advance that the perpetrators of the crimes of which they were the victims are going to be released.

There is absolutely no doubt that explicit hardcore pornography is blurring and distorting the lines and boundaries between sex and violence. We know there are major issues with young people accessing hardcore pornography. Such pornography distorts relationships between men and women. The image of women as objects being sexually violated is very concerning. We have raised this matter a number of times. We have a Bill that would ban hardcore pornography for young children. We need to take action on this matter and we need to stop delaying doing so. The Minister of State said in the past that it cannot be done. It can be done, it should be done and it needs to be done. In the case of Ana Kriégel, the poor 14-year-old girl who lost her life, hardcore pornography was a huge factor when it came to her attackers. We want to see action. The Aontú Bill would ban hardcore pornography for minors in this country.

I also commend the great work of the women's refuges across this country. In my constituency, there is great work happening in the Mayo refuge. However, it is under-resourced. We need to ensure that victims who are brave enough to seek it receive the help they need. There are major difficulties around capacity in women's refuges across the country. I would appreciate if the Minister of State could give serious consideration to this. We need reform in this area.

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