Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)

Domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a scourge on our society that continues to grow. I commend the focus the Minister's predecessor brought to this issue in her term of office as Minister for Justice and the establishment of Cuan as an agency, but we have so much work to do in the Minister's portfolio in the justice sector to continue to equip the courts and front-line services to recognise and support women who want and need to exit the incredibly difficult circumstances they are in.

It goes beyond the justice sector, however. We have to meet women where they are. It is such a delicate thread that brings people from situations of violence into safety and we have to protect it. People in hairdressers', doctors' offices and so many different situations need to be trained and equipped to meet women where they are and help to bring them to safety. We have to provide the accommodation. Until we do that, we are forcing women to stay in these situations.

Beyond that, I also want to speak to the societal issues at play here. The reality is that we live in a patriarchal society. That should not be a controversial thing to say, yet many people jar and react to it when I say those words. Because we live in a patriarchal society, we essentially facilitate everyday sexism. We also facilitate what I would say is a smaller group of people who actually practise and have misogyny in their lives. A smaller group again translate that misogyny into actual violence against women. These things are all connected. Continuing to have that gendered order in our society and having a patriarchal system allows all of this to be facilitated and to continue to be hidden.

That is before we reach how this amplified in the online space. We have much to do as a State and the Minister has much to do as Minister for justice, but we also have to address the society culture that needs to change.

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