Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I am delighted to be in the House and welcome the opportunity to speak on this most serious topic.

These statements on domestic violence, which are taking place so soon after the publication earlier this month of the Government's National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence 2010-2014, are timely. The strategy reflects the Government's commitment to tackling domestic and sexual violence, which is reflected in the establishment in June 2007 of Cosc, the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence. Cosc is a national executive office within the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform with a whole-of-Government remit. As well as dealing with violence against women, Cosc's remit extends to violence against men and violence against older people in the community. Cosc's actions therefore have a broad focus across all Government activity with the essential aim of preventing and responding to domestic and sexual violence. In carrying out its remit Cosc works closely with the many Departments, State agencies and non-governmental organisations dealing with domestic and sexual violence. In the past 18 months or so the development of the national strategy has been the main priority of Cosc.

Before discussing the development and content of the national strategy, I would like to say a few words about the nature of domestic violence. Three different dimensions of abuse characterise domestic violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional abuse. Behaviours which commonly occur in situations of domestic violence include various forms of physical violence such as kicking, punching, slapping, choking, and threatening with an object. Equally sexual abuse, in its many appalling variations, can be part of a pattern of domestic violence. Controlling and intimidating behaviour, including threats and blaming the victim, are common forms of emotional abuse. The use of isolation can be a key backdrop to domestic violence. An example of this is where the perpetrator restricts communication between the victim and friends or relations. Isolation can significantly hinder the victim in getting help and recovering from the cruel and degrading crimes concerned. More specifically, it can prevent reporting of the violence and make it difficult to access support services. It is relevant too that domestic violence may also include economic abuse. An obvious example of this would be where, as a means of exerting control, money for everyday expenses is deliberately withheld by one partner from the other.

The situation is exacerbated by the fact that these types of crimes usually take place behind closed doors where there are no witnesses or, worse still from the child's point of view, where the only witness is a child. The hidden nature of the violence makes it very difficult to tackle. There are various reasons this behaviour is kept hidden. It can be due to the misguided view that the violence is a private matter or due to the embarrassment of some of those involved. Often it is kept hidden because the victim considers he or she will not be believed. Violence is a crime, whether it is inside or outside the hall door.

Most domestic violence and the most severe forms of it is perpetrated by men against women. At the same time men can be, and often are, victims of domestic violence. Children also become embroiled in such violence, sometimes as direct victims, but more often as secondary victims. Sadly, older people can experience domestic violence perpetrated by their children or by members of their own families. Other groups which can be at high risk of becoming victims of domestic violence include people with disabilities, ethnic minorities and members of the Traveller community.

I will now focus on the development of the national strategy in the past 18 months or so. A wide range of State and non-governmental organisations dealing with domestic and sexual violence played a key role in assisting with the strategy's development. Those organisations responded to the call for submissions on the strategy and participated in subsequent rounds of consultations. The organisations included Departments, State offices and agencies as well as the more than 70 non-governmental organisations at national and local level which deliver services to victims of domestic and sexual violence. In addition, domestic and international research was considered. A conference was held in Waterford at which international experts spoke of their experiences and research. The conference focused on improving and evaluating the responses of specific services such as housing, the police, the criminal justice system and the health care system, as well as specific co-ordination issues such as risk assessment models. The conference was followed by a forum on domestic violence hosted by President Mary McAleese, which explored why victims find it difficult to seek help or report abuse. The material gathered from all these sources was analysed and formed the basis of discussions with Departments and public sector bodies to identify the goals and actions required. This culminated in a final round of consultations with all the Departments and State bodies concerned late last year. All relevant Departments and bodies indicated their commitment to the strategy and to the actions with which they are specifically involved. Some Departments offered to lead on certain actions and others made valuable suggestions on implementation.

The Government's action in this area has been driven by its concern at consistent evidence of high prevalence and low levels of reporting of these crimes. Soon after the establishment of Cosc in 2007, it became clear that a national strategy was required to set out a common vision, to form a basis for a joined-up approach and to identify priority actions. Now that the Government has approved the national strategy, we have a document which represents a blueprint for more strategic and co-ordinated action on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in Ireland in the five-year period from early this year to the end of 2014. The finalisation of the strategy is a significant milestone. It is the first time there has been such a strategy and the achievement is a credit to all concerned, including Departments, State agencies and NGOs who all had such a large part in getting the strategy over the line. It is the first time in Ireland there has been a common vision and collaborative plan of action to tackle these horrific crimes.

The main focus of the strategy is, on the one hand, to prevent the violence concerned and, on the other, to respond effectively to such violence. Ultimately, the impact of the strategy will be fewer victims of domestic and sexual violence, better services for those who are victims and increased accountability by perpetrators. The strategy places a high value on evaluation and evidence-based policy planning. This is crucial to ensure effective interventions and best public value. The strategy is very much an action-focused one. Not only does it outline actions and activities, it sets out clear targets against which progress on implementation will be measured.

More specifically as regards domestic violence, the national strategy has two central pillars which deal with primary and secondary interventions. I will briefly indicate the actions to be implemented under these interventions. Primary interventions are those that aim to prevent a problem from occurring or, when it has taken place, to prevent its recurrence. In the context of domestic violence, the national strategy's primary interventions will raise awareness of the crime and increase understanding and recognition of it. Another aspect of the primary interventions will be to educate people about the dynamics and impact of the problem and equip people to better respond to it. Actions relating to primary interventions will include developing an understanding and recognition of domestic violence among the general public, specific audiences and across the State sector. Action will also be taken to embed domestic violence-related content in programmes in second and third level education institutions.

Secondary interventions arise once an incident has occurred and there is a direct role for services to deal with a report, respond or refer on for needs to be met by a more specialised service. Secondary interventions are mainly the services offered to victims. They range from routine inquiry in hospital or GP settings which aim to facilitate disclosure to direct service provision for victims. Services for victims can include assistance with accommodation, counselling and medical attention, as well as relief provided through the civil courts and the criminal justice process. A focus on victims is of central importance and a basic first step in increasing their confidence in service provision is to ensure that information on services is available to them in user-friendly formats. One of the actions under secondary interventions addresses this. Another action aims to improve opportunities for disclosure in the health and non-health sectors. Work is planned to promote high-quality standards in service delivery for victims as well as perpetrators and to strengthen intra and inter-organisational co-ordination, with a view to improved service effectiveness and consistency. Action will also be taken with a specific focus on supporting and enabling collaboration across State agencies and NGOs. In addition, specific actions are included to improve protection and support for victims, through improvements to counselling as well as ensuring effectiveness and consistency in housing responses and the co-location of services in a one-stop-shop setting.

The strategy also includes an action to minimise attrition levels in domestic violence cases, to the extent that is appropriate. This will include examining recent research with a view to developing proposals to improve the situation.

Through the establishment of a domestic violence perpetrator programme committee, Cosc will develop and implement a plan to strengthen perpetrator programmes by improving intra and inter-organisational co-operation, co-ordination and data collection. The final actions under secondary interventions aim to address the accountability of offenders and strengthen the protection of victims through a review - and any necessary improvement - of legislation on domestic violence.

The strategy aims to provide a clear direction for all Government action on domestic violence across the various Departments and agencies concerned. This should lead to more co-ordinated and effective action in respect of victims and perpetrators. In so doing, the strategy will address the key problem of the disjointed nature of current action across the many organisations involved.

The vision in respect of the national strategy, in so far as it relates to domestic violence, is that, by the end of 2014, there will be progress in a number of respects. There will be clearer societal acknowledgment of the unacceptability of domestic violence. There will be greater recognition and a broader understanding of such violence. There will be greater confidence in high quality and consistent services for victims of the violence. Crucially, there will also be increased safety for victims, and potential victims, as well as increased accountability of perpetrators. In order to assist in making this vision a reality, structures have been put in place to ensure the effective implementation of the strategy. Central to this task has been the establishment of a strategy oversight committee to monitor the implementation of the national strategy and to assist in identifying solutions to any high level difficulties or delays.