Dáil debates

Wednesday, 18 January 2023

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence

9:30 pm

Photo of Holly CairnsHolly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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Last week was the first anniversary of Ashling Murphy's murder. Since then, a further 16 women have been killed on the island of Ireland, including two already this year, namely, Bruna Fonseca, and Maud Coffey. NGOs and campaigners have rightly called this an epidemic of gender-based violence. More than 250 women have been violently killed since 1996 and in the vast majority of resolved cases, they were killed by a man known to them. In half the cases, they were killed by a current or former partner. We must call this what it is: femicide. Misogyny remains deeply rooted in society. These murders are just the tip of the iceberg. The epidemic is manifest in countless cases of assaults, domestic violence, torture, coercive control, financial abuse, harassment, stalking and so-called revenge porn. The horrifying list goes on.

Last year, vigils were held across the country and there was a national demand for action. However, we must be honest and ask what has changed. Women continue to be killed, to live in fear and to message when they are home safely. While this is a complex issue that needs responses from all of society, there are concrete things that the Government can and must do more quickly to confront gender-based violence. These are just some examples: first, we need more refuge spaces. Safe Ireland's pre-budget submission shows that the State only provides 29% of the required refuge spaces. The Istanbul Convention's standard is one space per 10,000 people and Ireland only provides a fraction of that. Cork city and county, with a population of more than 500,000, should have 54 spaces and it has six. I have repeatedly raised this matter. This week last year, speaking on Ashling Murphy's death, I called for additional funding to provide these refuge spaces. Again today, I reiterate that call.

The next issue I wish to raise is domestic violence leave. I welcome the legislation bringing in domestic violence leave. However, it is recommended that this leave be up to ten days annually. The legislation only allows for five days, half of what is required.

The third area relates to reform of the justice system. While there have been some very welcome and much-needed changes, victims and survivors are still experiencing hostile systems and there is still massive under-reporting of these crimes.

The final issue I wish to raise is education, education, education. Social, personal and health education is scandalously outdated and, as a result, it is harmful. There is an immediate need for education on consent, sexual violence, coercion and online abuse. Shamefully, there are groups - even Members of this House - opposing these vital reforms.

In November 2021, the Government delayed the progress of the Social Democrats Bill introduced by Deputy Gannon on relationships and sex education. The Minister for Education must immediately bring in a new curriculum and training for teachers to provide young people with the skills and knowledge to help them develop respectful social and sexual relationships.

I accept that the Government is committed to addressing gender-based violence but to be fair, with the political will, considerably more could be done. One significant step the Minister for Justice could take is to immediately meet those working in this sector, especially organisations such as Safe Ireland, Women's Aid, and the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. They are the experts and they know exactly what changes are needed across all Departments and public services. The Government should meet them and listen to them. We are just 18 days into the new year and we already have had two killings. This trend cannot be allowed to continue. There is more the Government can do and it must do it now.

Photo of Josepha MadiganJosepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Like the rest of the country, my thoughts continue to be very much with the loved ones of Ashling Murphy, in particular as the Deputy states, we have just marked the anniversary of her murder.

The Minister, Deputy Harris, and I both welcome that the Deputy has tabled this issue for discussion, because tackling all forms of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is, and will continue to be, a key priority for this Government. I cannot sufficiently underscore the commitment across the Government to tackling these hideous crimes and to address the underlying issues. As Deputy Cairns states, there must be collaboration with our partners and with all of society to try to prevent all forms of violence against women and to change the problematic attitudes that underpin it.

We are also trying to improve and increase the supports that are available. We are putting in place new structures to ensure that we can deliver the systems and supports that victims and survivors so badly need. The Deputy mentioned a victim-centred criminal justice system that would support victims from the moment they report a crime right through the court proceedings and beyond. Procedures and processes have to be in place to hold perpetrators to account. There has to be a full range of supports and services available to victims of these terrible crimes regardless of where they live. We should continue to work with society to educate and raise awareness of all forms of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and enable everyone to question and change problematic behaviours.

Over the course of the past year, significant strides have been made in implementing Supporting a Victim's Journey, the plan to improve the experience of vulnerable victims as they engage with the criminal justice system. We want better training for professionals and the establishment of a course to train intermediaries. There is also the roll-out out of divisional protective services units in each Garda division, the introduction of preliminary trial hearings, and the provision of extra funding for organisations supporting victims, to address gaps in service provision by type and location.

The zero-tolerance strategy the Minister, Deputy McEntee, launched is a five-year, ambitious, whole-of-government strategy. We all know its headings: protection, prevention, prosecution and policy co-ordination. It was developed in partnership with domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence partners and that sector. They have had direct input, which will help. It comprises 144 actions that have to be delivered. The legislation that the Minister, Deputy Harris, is bringing forward will increase the maximum sentence for assault causing harm; it is being doubled from five years to ten. Other legislation will include the monitoring of sex offenders, strengthen victims' rights, and make stalking and non-fatal strangulation stand-alone offences. The Deputy specifically mentioned refuge spaces, which she has been advocating on for quite some time. That has started and will continue.

I was struck by one of the matters the Deputy mentioned, namely, under-reporting. I grew up in a very different era to the Deputy. There is still under-reporting. There was certainly a lot of under-reporting in my day, which is continuing. This morning, I attended a spin class very near where I live. I was crossing the road after the class, in my cycling shorts, and was verbally abused by a man who came towards me. I got such a shock that I did not even think it was directed towards me until I got into my car and he continued the abuse. I reported that incident today. I might not have reported that 20 or 30 years ago because that is what we do as victims. We think we are being silly and we maybe feel stupid reporting it but we must tackle that type of misogyny at the level of something as basic as that. It is completely unacceptable. Even though it is not a murder like that of Ashling Murphy, such misogyny runs the gamut. That is what is happening in society. We have to stamp it out. I said to myself, if we are talking about a strategy, I have to embody it too and have a zero-tolerance approach. We all have to. It takes men as well, if they see such incidents or conversations happening that are not acceptable to women, they also need to call that out. We all have to play our part.

9:40 pm

Photo of Holly CairnsHolly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State for her response and for outlining all the actions the Government has been taking. I also thank her for telling her story about what happened today. Well done. She is right that such behaviour absolutely needs to be reported. A key point she raised is that for too long only half the population have been having this conversation. Girls and women know this reality inside out. We need structures and resources to help men have these necessary discussions.

Domestic violence and sexual assaults are perpetrated by friends, colleagues and team-mates. Inappropriate behaviours and harassment need to be challenged by both genders. For example, University College Cork's bystander intervention programme is a very impressive initiative that gives people the tools to recognise and safely act in response to those kind of everyday situations, such as the one the Minister of State highlighted. This programme is being implemented in other universities, but it is the type of training we need for sports clubs, community organisations, and professional bodies. The Government should look at providing the instruments for men to have these conversations.

I have to come back to the work of support organisations such as West Cork Women Against Violence. It is an organisation run on a shoestring budget and yet provides an incredible range of assistive and life-saving services in many instances. It helps women and children exit dangerous situations, it has a helpline, it offers court and professional appointment accompaniment, its members are advocates, and it has outreach clinics and training programmes for young people and adults, because we all need to learn about these issues. This is the work being done by just one organisation, which is replicated by regional and national bodies throughout the country. Imagine what they could do with proper Government funding. There is already a network of organisations on the ground that are known and trusted by highly vulnerable people. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of the Minister of State working directly with those organisations to engage with them, fund them, and trust them and the difference they make every single day.

The Minister of State spoke about how we are seeing people report these crimes more and more and how good that is from a generational perspective but, to take cases of rape as an isolated example outside all other gender-based violence, less than 1% of victims get justice. Even though we have moved some bit forward, it is important for us to recognise how far we have to go. The figure is less than 1%.

Photo of Josepha MadiganJosepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for her advocacy in this regard. I can hear the passion when she talks about this matter. Domestic violence has increased and has in fact doubled in the past 15 years. In my previous life as a family lawyer, l dealt with many women, and some men, who were victims of domestic violence. Ms Sarah Grace has spoken very eloquently on the criminal justice system. I could use the term "in part", but to a large extent many victims did not come forward because of their fear of the criminal justice system and facing that. The fact that we now have Garda training will help a lot. Gardaí are better equipped in how to deal with this violence. Judges also need training to deal with victims, and to make the process more victim friendly and victim centred, so there is not that fear and, primarily, that the woman is believed.

Much legislation has been brought in relating to this area, such as Coco's Law. There is now legislation around coercive control, which the Deputy mentioned, and consent, which did not even exist when I was growing up. We have made huge strides but this is, as it is called in France, the grande cause nationale. It is something that will never go away. We have to stop it at its grassroots level before it becomes something really violent, similar to what happened to Ashling Murphy and the more than 200 women who have died since 1996.

I thank the Deputy for her efforts on this issue. The Minister, Deputy Harris, has a zero-tolerance approach to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, as does the Government. For my part, I will also continue to advocate.

Cuireadh an Dáil ar athló ar 8.59 p.m. go dtí 9 a.m., Déardaoin, an 19 Eanáir 2023.

The Dáil adjourned at at 8.59 p.m. until 9 a.m. on Thursday, 19 January 2023.