Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State and compliment him on his speedy response in bringing the Bill before the House. Only two months ago the Supreme Court ruled that section 3(4) of the Domestic Violence Act was unconstitutional. The general public, as well as politicians, have always been too ready to criticise Ministers and their Departments for being slow, particularly with legislation such as this. We seem to be painstakingly slow at times, but well done to the Minister on his speedy response in this instance.

It is our duty as legislators to make sure we have laws which will protect and create a safe place for all of us. Many victims of abuse, believe, wrongly, that our laws do not protect them or their children. It is very difficult for any man, woman or child to be caught up in domestic violence. I agree with Senator Hayes that the whole area of domestic violence is a terrible tragedy. It is not just the domain of women and children. Men are also the victims of domestic violence. Perhaps we should think about how male victims feel. They are a small minority but they feel less a man. It is very difficult for them.

I had lunch with five school friends last Saturday. One of them is a victim of a very unhappy marriage which she went into on the basis of what she thought was a very loving relationship. She experienced domestic violence on her honeymoon. Her husband used to kick her, bite her and pinch her, always on parts of her body which would not be noticed. She became pregnant with her first child after a year and the beatings continued. They became worse when the baby was born and she never thought of looking for help. She never shared it with any of us, her friends, because she thought it was not the type of thing that happened to people like her. Domestic violence happens across the board, regardless of socio-economic circumstances. She eventually looked for help when her baby was four. She was on the ground, unconscious, and woke up to the child screaming and crying, "Please don't die on me, Mummy". Her suffering continues today. She is still a victim. She is legally separated but the verbal abuse continues. Statistics show that 76% of separated couples still experience violence, whether it is verbal or physical. They still feel threatened.

The way to deal with stigmas is to talk about them and I am glad we are having this debate. I wish it could go further than the Houses of the Oireachtas. We need to build an environment where victims will feel safe, protected and part of the system. There have been many figures given out today and I will not go back over them. However, I was surprised to read a survey recently carried out by the Rotunda. Out of 400 pregnant women surveyed, 12.5% of them experienced very severe domestic violence while they were pregnant.