Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join with other speakers in welcoming the Minister to the House and in congratulating her and all of the civil society organisations, including Safe Ireland, the National Women's Council of Ireland, Women's Aid, Barnardos and others, for their work in driving this Bill forward. I believe these amendments will strengthen the Bill and thus deliver the outcome all of those who have put work into it over the years have been seeking.

The crucial amendment is the amendment proposing a definition of "domestic violence". There are more than 36 references to domestic violence in the Bill but no definition of what constitutes domestic violence. The Minister will understand the importance of a clear definition of what constitutes domestic violence.There is not a common understanding of it in society, within families or across Europe. The Minister signed Ireland up to the Istanbul convention and I know she is eager to move to the next stage of ratification. There can be no doubt that the comprehensive definition of domestic violence in the Bill, which is also a Council of Europe definition, is what we need because it is comprehensive and includes physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence. My colleague spoke about economic violence with regard to adult safeguarding. These are all intertwined areas of control. Many of us have heard examples of that from advocacy organisations. Almost everyone here will know of examples in their own lives involving friends, families or neighbours who have been in abusive relationships, the subtleties of that abuse and its inter-linking aspects.

I note a typographical error has been pointed out. We are very open to working with the Minister on the question of a definition, but it must be based on and enshrine the definition of domestic violence in the Istanbul convention, that is, the Council of Europe convention. It also must include definitions of coercive behaviour and controlling behaviour. That must be spelt out.

In terms of the psychological definition, we acknowledge that the list as we have phrased it is not comprehensive because psychological cruelty can take very innovative forms and we recognise it may need to be expanded. These are to give an example to and plant a question mark in the minds of those supporting those who have experienced domestic violence about the types of activities engaged in, which might seem subtle but are important in terms of harassment within the family and the effect of the threat of violence. I will touch on that when dealing with amendment No. 52.

On the question of definitions, as others have said, it is not necessary to send this signal legislatively. It sends a clear message, educationally and culturally, to those who are enforcing the law but also to the victims of violence in that when they experience something which feels like intimidation and abuse, it is abuse and they are able to look to that. It sends a signal to perpetrators and potential perpetrators and it also sends an important signal across Europe. I represent this House at the Council of Europe and I see that there is a backlash and a push regarding domestic violence. We need to be part of the advance guard that fully supports the Istanbul convention and its definitions. We will be happy to work with the Minister on that.

On amendment No. 52, which the Minister will see has comprehensive support across the House, this amendment takes this a step further, which is to talk of coercive and controlling behaviour as an offence. Its omission is regrettable. Barnardos and almost all of the advocacy groups have spoken about the fact that domestic violence as a specific offence is not included in the legislation. It is a real omission and this proposal in respect of coercive and controlling behaviour is an opportunity to address that.

We know from the Garda Inspectorate reports that even though domestic violence is not recognised as a crime, it is a volume crime. The Garda Inspectorate report describes it as one of the highest volume of incidents which occur and are recorded, even though we now know, as it has emerged in recent years, that they were under-recorded. We know there is a huge volume of incidents of domestic violence and we need to acknowledge that. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecution has expressed its concerns about prosecution but we have seen in the United Kingdom that there have been successful prosecutions. As mentioned by my colleague, there were 59 successful prosecutions, and 125 other cases were taken. Unless we have a crime of controlling and coercive behaviour, we will neither address nor capture domestic violence.

If we look to something like assault, we are literally talking about a tiny part of the picture. For example, as damaging as any assault is the linking of that assault to somebody's experience. I refer to someone who walks around in fear for months because they know that when they engage in normal behaviour such as contacting a family member or talking to their co-workers they may be visited with violence. That threat of violence and control, and the fact that someone might seek to destroy one's relationships with others in a wider circle, is the climate in which an incident of assault takes place and it is very hard to prove. It is known by many domestic violence organisations that many of the forms of assault that take place such as choking, for example, can be extremely difficult to demonstrate and prove. However, a litany of control is something that can be captured and shown. I ask the Minister to consider that this crime is being monitored in the UK and to send a signal to society in respect of it.

Recently, in Russia, we have seen a roll-back whereby effectively, they have decided that violence within the home is acceptable except in the cases of hospitalisation and broken limbs. There is a dynamic happening globally to the effect that abuse within the home can continue and is in a separate space. Unless we are part of the positive dynamic such as we have seen in the UK that says that all forms of abuse within the home will be tackled, taken seriously and treated as a crime, we are lending succour to the negative trend taking place globally and contributing to a dynamic which is seeking to roll back and legitimise violence against women. I urge the Minister to continue with her original intent and renew a commitment to a reference to a crime of domestic violence or specifically controlling and coercive behaviour in this Bill. That would send a valuable signal to women, men and children across Ireland. I look forward to the Minister's response. I hope she will be able to work with us and that we can move forward on this issue.