Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

Domestic violence is at epidemic levels. Women's Aid has published its annual report and it makes for very grim reading. Last year, it received the highest number of domestic abuse complaints in its 50-year history. All forms of abuse against women have increased. Physical abuse is up 22%, sexual abuse by 30%, emotional abuse up 15% and economic abuse up 5%. One third of women who reached out to help were subjected to abuse by an ex-partner. The relationship may end but the abuse does not. All the statistics are going in the wrong direction and Women's Aid says this is only the tip of the iceberg. Behind these statistics are real women and their children; real lives shattered. The report reflects that Government must do a far better job to achieve zero tolerance of violence against women. After 15 years of Government strategy on domestic violence, where are we? We still do not have a women's refuge in every county; we have a judicial system that does not work for victims; inconsistent, even lenient, sentences for perpetrators; victims looking to take out barring orders against their abuser yet unable to secure legal representation; and 44% of victims reporting that they found the gardaí unhelpful in a domestic violence situation. We still do not have a register of domestic abusers to protect women from repeat offenders. That is the aim of legislation named in honour of Jennie Poole. Jennie was stabbed to death by her abuser in 2021, a man with a history of violence against women. She did not know that; neither did her family. Jennie was 24.

Support services remain underfunded and overstretched and Government is failing to meet legal obligations in respect of refuge spaces. The Government is also failing to ensure refuges provide the vital wraparound services that women and children need.

I am also mindful that refuges are not the ultimate answer. They are a very necessary, but temporary, protection and not a long-term solution. The needs of women fleeing domestic violence have to be hardwired into the response to the housing crisis. The question has to be asked: why is it that it is the victim who is forced to leave her home but the perpetrator remains undisturbed?

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