Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Members of Seanad Éireann for affording me some time, and affording this House some time, to talk about the extensive work that we all are doing, and wish to do, to combat all forms of violence against women, including by changing the social and cultural attitudes that can often underpin such horrific crimes.

Ending sexual and gender-based violence and abuse is an obligation. We simply must do it. There is no other option and we need a zero tolerance approach. That is not to say it will not be challenging but I can assure Members it is a challenge that we are determined to meet.

From what might have been seen as the lowest level of unacceptable behaviours and right through to the most serious, we will work towards a society that does not accept any level of violence or abuse against women. One important aspect of this is counteracting the norms that facilitate the insidiousness of this behaviour. I refer, for example, to the assumption that elements of it are somehow a lesser form of abuse, the assertion that things that happen online are not really that serious or the suggestion that private suffering is not a public responsibility. Writing about these types of appalling behaviours in The Sunday Timesrecently, Louise O'Neill said, "Men's sense of entitlement to the female body is not a new problem —social media has simply given them a new tool." I want to reassure you that we recognise that counteracting these norms is a vital element in ending violence against women, and it is one of the areas we are specifically targeting.

As Members will be aware, my colleague the Minister, Deputy McEntee, published the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence last June, and implementation has well and truly begun. This is an ambitious, whole-of-government five-year programme of reform that is built on the four pillars of the Istanbul Convention, which are protection, prevention, prosecution and policy co-ordination. The national strategy is entitled Zero Tolerance. Its fundamental aim, and our north star, is to bring about changes in attitudes and systems to ensure our society has zero tolerance for any and all forms of these crimes. That determination to change is reflected throughout the document. It is why the strategy is not just about a criminal justice approach, important as that is. It is not only about how we can improve policing or the court system or change legislation, although all of those and other areas are addressed and are vitally important.It is also about involving wider society; it is about engaging with everyone to change attitudes and to combat this violence and abuse; it is about men doing better; it is about men recognising that they need to do more; it is about fathers doing better; it is about fathers recognising we have a duty in how we raise our sons; it is about politicians doing better; it is about politicians recognising that they need to change the system; and, frankly, it is about everyone doing more and doing better because it is only through a whole-of-government, whole-of-society effort that we will reach that goal of zero tolerance, ensuring a developmental impact on the attitudes of men and boys, while also empowering women and girls.

A detailed implementation plan, which will run to the end of this year, was published alongside the strategy. It assigns responsibility for the delivery of the 144 actions and provides clear timeframes for doing so. Further implementation plans will be published for each subsequent year of the strategy. I assure this House that what is achieved this year in implementing our zero tolerance strategy is only the start. Nonetheless, it is significant. The overall cost of implementing the entire strategy is estimated to be €363 million. The actions are drawn from across Departments and State agencies, again reflecting that fundamental truth that our North Star - zero tolerance - can only be achieved if we all work towards it.

Specific actions are included to establish a dedicated domestic, sexual and gender-based violence agency under the remit of my Department. I have just come from a briefing with stakeholders working on the front line with victims and survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence from across the country. They are in the Department today helping us co-design this agency. We are listening to their voice and the expertise they have – the voice of the victim and of the survivor – in order that we get this right. The plan will also double the number of refuge spaces over the lifetime of the strategy.

We are also improving and increasing the supports available and putting in place new structures to ensure we, as a State, continue to deliver the systems and supports that victims and survivors deserve. This work includes making sure procedures and processes are in place to hold perpetrators to account; a victim-centred criminal justice system that supports victims from the moment they report a crime right through the court proceedings and beyond; the full range of supports and services are available to victims of these terrible crimes, regardless of where they live; and we continue to work with society to educate and raise awareness of all forms of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and to enable everyone to question and change problematic behaviours.

The new agency will work collaboratively with NGOs and service providers to ensure the best services are in place to meet the needs of victims and survivors. It will have a specific mandate to drive the implementation of the zero tolerance strategy across government. For the first time, we will have people whose only and full-time job will be the delivery of the co-ordination of this strategy to ensure we bring that expertise and focus to tackle this complex but vital social issue. Work to draft the heads of a general scheme to establish the agency has progressed and I intend to go to Government for permission to publish that draft law by the end of the month. One of the overarching goals of the strategy is to ensure that everyone who needs a refuge space will get one. We will double the number of refuge spaces over the lifetime of the strategy, bringing it to 280.

The Tusla review of accommodation services for victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence identified priority locations where between 50 and 60 new refuge places are needed. Further analysis undertaken identified 12 locations nationwide where the delivery of 98 family refuge spaces would have the most impact, if prioritised. In the initial phase of this work, we expect to have delivered 24 places in Wexford, Dundalk and Navan by next year. There will be 98 refuge units in priority locations delivered by 2025, along with a further 19 additional and upgraded units by the end of the strategy. There were also 32 safe homes units operational at the end of 2022, with plans to expand to 55 by the end of 2023.

We have significantly underprovided emergency accommodation for victims of domestic violence and I fully acknowledge the need for a significant increase in the provision of refuge spaces and safe homes. I am committed to achieving this to ensure victims have a safe place when they need it. The work being done in this area demonstrates determination across the board to support and protect some of our most vulnerable people. However, let me clear: doubling the number of refuge places under the lifetime of this strategy is the start, not the end. It cannot be the end. Subsequent strategies will build on what we achieve between now and 2026.

As I mentioned earlier, the plan is not dominated by a focus on the criminal justice approach alone but, of course, this remains a core element for me as Minister for Justice. As part of delivering on the actions contained in this strategy, I will bring forward four significant Bills in the coming months. The Government has approved the publication of a Bill that will increase from five to ten years the maximum sentence for assault causing harm, one of the most common offences in domestic violence cases. The new legislation, which is currently before the Houses, also contains provisions to make stalking and non-fatal strangulation stand-alone offences. I note the interest and leadership of the Chair and others in this area in the past number of months. While both are crimes, this will make the law clearer and stronger. We know stalking is a serious and intrusive crime that can cause devastating psychological distress. The evidence is that when a specific stalking offence is introduced, it leads to a greater awareness of the crime and an increase in the number of crimes reported and ultimately prosecuted, so we are doing that. International research suggests that a history of non-fatal strangulation presents a sevenfold increase in the risk of death. Internationally, strangulation is the second-most common method of killing in adult female homicides. Research also highlights that non-fatal strangulation is frequently used as a tool of coercion, often accompanied by threats to kill, so we are acting on that.

The Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill, which is also before the Houses, will introduce new and specific aggravated offences with enhanced penalties for crimes motivated by prejudice against certain characteristics, including gender. I will also seek to enact the sex offenders Bill, which will strengthen the management and monitoring of sex offenders in the community. It will allow for the electronic tagging of sex offenders and for the Garda to disclose information about previous convictions to a member or members of the public where the sex offender poses a risk of causing harm. I am also updating sexual offences legislation, including by updating the law around consent and by introducing many reforms in line with commitments in Supporting a Victim’s Journey. This includes extending anonymity provisions and legal representation to further categories of victims, as well as repealing provisions for sentences to be delivered in public.

There has been increased reporting of sexual violence over recent years and we are determined to ensure that our system supports every victim who takes the brave step to report. Indeed, over the past two years, significant strides have been made in implementing Supporting a Victim's Journey. I will not list them all but they include better training for professionals in the criminal justice system, the establishment of a course in University of Limerick to train intermediaries and the roll-out out of divisional protective services units in each Garda division. Every woman and every citizen should know that no matter where they live in Ireland, there is a divisional protective service unit in every Garda division and each of them have been fully trained. There has been the establishment of a specialist unit in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the introduction of preliminary trial hearings and the provision of extra funding for organisations supporting victims to address gaps in service provision. The work continues.

I want to reassure people in this regard. As an Oireachtas, we are going to take concrete steps, I hope, between now and the summer to make sure that strangulation is a stand-alone offence, to make sure we can double the maximum sentence for assault causing harm, and to make sure our courts can electronically tag sex offenders in this country. We are going to publish a Bill to make sure we overhaul how we deal with sexual offences and give victims representation in court so that when someone is being cross-examined, it is not someone representing the defendant, someone representing the State and nobody looking out for the interests of the victim. These are practical things we can do in these Houses and we can do them quickly to make a real difference.

In the brief time available, I want to say that we also have to do much more than this. Given the Andrew Tate scenario, if I may call it that, parents across the country are now realising where their kids are getting information from, the power of social media, the abuse on social media, the lack of proper sex education and the lack of age-appropriate information, which is causing real challenges. I believe that beginning to introduce children to concepts such as consent when they are in higher education is far too late and there are specific elements to the strategy that we need to deliver on if we are to bring about cultural change also.