Colette Kelleher (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 7, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following:“ “domestic violence” means any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse, (even if all or any of those incidents, when viewed in isolation, may appear to be minor or trivial), inflicted against an applicant or a dependent person by the respondent and includes all acts of physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence. In relation to “domestic violence”—

(a) “coercive behaviour” is an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten the applicant or a dependent person by the respondent;

(b) “controlling behaviour” is a range of acts designed to make an applicant subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour;

(c) “psychological” means violence inflicted against an applicant or a dependent person by the respondent and includes, but is not limited to, all, or any of the following:

(i) threatening (including threating suicide) to use violence against, molesting or putting in fear;

(ii) harassing by persistently following, watching, pestering, besetting or communicating;

(iii) damaging property;

(iv) ill-treatment of one or both of the following:

(I) household pets;

(II) other animals whose welfare affects significantly, or is likely to affect significantly, an applicant or a dependent person’s well-being;

(v) causing or allowing a dependent person to see or hear the physical, sexual, or psychological abuse of an applicant; or puts a dependent person, or allows a dependent person to be put, at real risk of seeing or hearing that abuse occurring. However, an applicant who suffers abuse as defined by “domestic violence” is not regarded as having—

(I) caused or allowed a dependent person to see or hear that abuse; or

(II) put a dependent person, or allowed a dependent person to be put, at risk of seeing or hearing that abuse.”.

Amendments Nos. 1, 52 and 53 are being discussed together. Amendment No. 1 provides a definition of domestic violence that captures not only acts of physical violence, including sexual violence, but also acts of psychological and economic abuse, including stalking and other forms of harassment, and acts which are undertaken to exercise coercive control over their victim. A law against coercive control has recently been introduced in the United Kingdom. The aim of the Domestic Violence Bill 2017 should be to reduce and prevent violence in domestic relationships by recognising that domestic violence in all its forms is unacceptable behaviour and by making sure there is effective legal protection for victims of all forms of domestic violence, not just the customary physical abuse of which we are all very intolerant. I thank my colleagues in the National Women's Council, Safe Ireland and others for all their support in tabling these amendments.

This Bill refers to domestic violence 36 times without attempting to define it, thereby implying that what is meant by domestic violence is clear and understood. However, reports and statistics to date do not reflect that position, and therefore it is essential that the Bill provides clarity. There is a real opportunity to do in the Bill. The committee on the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has called on the Government to introduce a specific definition of domestic violence into our laws. In 2014, the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality said that domestic offences, given their seriousness, must be clearly defined.

When determining what this definition should look like, we should look to the Istanbul Convention, to which we must adhere. It defines domestic violence as all acts of physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence that occur in the family or domestic unit or between former or current spouses or partners, regardless of whether the perpetrator shares or has shared the same residence with the victim. This is set out in Article 3 of the convention. The convention also states that violence against women includes threats of the acts listed above as well as coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty.

The National Women's Council of Ireland has called for a clear statutory definition of domestic violence that reflects modern understanding and it should capture not only acts of physical violence, including sexual violence, but also acts of psychological and economic abuse, including stalking and other forms of harassment, and acts that are undertaken to exercise coercive control over their victim. Furthermore it should recognise that violence within the home is not limited to intimate relationships and can extend to all members of the household.

Inserting a definition into legislation is a feature of other common law jurisdictions. In particular, New Zealand has had a definition of domestic violence since 1995 which has been amended several times since enactment as social norms and expectations continue to change and new evidence about how to stop violence occurring continues to emerge. The definition recognises that a distinguishing characteristic of intimate partner violence and child abuse is that violence can be a pattern of harmful behaviours occurring over time that can result in the victim's life being controlled by the perpetrator in a very real way.

I urge the Minister to accept this amendment. I thank the National Women's Council of Ireland for its help and assistance with this amendment.