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THE DEPARTMENT OF Justice is currently reviewing legislation to help victims of domestic abuse.
Certain laws need to be updated before Ireland can ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence – something we signed up to in 2011.
Speaking in the Dáil recently, Socialist TD Ruth Coppinger called on the government to move quickly, noting: “Gender-based violence is at epidemic levels and one in four women in Ireland has experienced domestic violence.”
The newly-elected Dublin-West TD also raised concerns that constitutional property rights can prevent women from getting barring orders against violent partners.
Coppinger said she was worried that “our very old Constitution would prove an impediment to women in terms of their being able to gain access to emergency barring orders”.
It is quite incredible that constitutional change on property rights would take precedence over the rights of women and their lives, health and children. I hope constitutional change will not be required.
She said she was not surprised that there was difficulty in implementing the Convention “given the bedraggled condition of refuge services and services addressing violence against women in this country”.
Coppinger noted that the Solas Family Resource Centre has said that demand for a refuge place is four times greater than supply.
A one-day census conducted by SAFE Ireland last November found that 467 women and 229 children were receiving accommodation and support from a domestic violence service.
“Many refuges around the country have had to beg for money from their local councils because of government cuts. I would imagine that considerable investment is required if Ireland is to be in a position to sign the convention,” Coppinger stated.
Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said that she would be meeting with junior ministers Kathleen Lynch and Jan O’Sullivan to discuss issues around housing and refuges.
I accept that women need to use refuges very often. Having more supported services for women in their local areas is very much preferable, as is the effective use of court sanctions against those who perpetrate violence against women.
Fitzgerald noted that her department is working with Cosc - the national office for the prevention of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence – and other departments to compile an action plan to enable Ireland to ratify the convention provisions.
She said this was “a matter of priority” for her.
The legislation under development to allow us ratify the convention includes the government commitment to introduce consolidated and reformed domestic violence legislation to address all aspects of domestic violence, threatened violence and intimidation, in a way that provides protection to victims.
The minister said that “substantial progress” had been made on the issue to date. The government has until November 2015 to ratify the convention.
Fitzgerald noted there was “some concern that our legislative provisions on barring orders might serve as a constitutional impediment to signing [up to the Convention]“. However, she said that this will most likely require legislative change as opposed to constitutional change.
She added that it was “not unusual for constitutional sensitivities to be raised when bringing forward important legislation like this”.
Coppinger said that refuges are a “last resort” for abused women, noting that societal change was needed in Ireland and abroad to help tackle domestic violence.
We need massive structural, cultural and social change in society in order to end violence against women, not only in Ireland but also around the world. This, however, does not absolve the government of its responsibility to provide emergency services for women who need them.
She stated that austerity has “hit women and children in particular, making it more difficult for women to leave violent relationships and gain access to the help they need”.
Fitzgerald said that there was “no room for complacency on the issue of violence against women”.
She noted that drug and alcohol use were two areas that needed to be addressed as they often play a role in abusive relationships.
The minister added that Ireland is “only one of nine member states where the ratio of shelter beds relative to population is higher than 1 per 10,000, that being the recommended rate”.
Ireland has 1.29 shelter beds per 10,000 people.
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The problem is that Ms Fitzgerald used gender specific pronouns. 40% of domestic abuse is suffered by men (at least in the UK). That isn’t a made up fact. It’s a truth that many do not know as the words ‘Domestic Abuse’ are synonymous with ‘wife beating’. It is double standards like these that prove our society hasn’t, in fact, made leaps and bounds in gender equality i.e. Tennis earnings (that’s another debate) and the ‘glass ceiling’. I am not saying men are victims but more so that all genders are victims.
If you’re worried about Frances Fitzgerald’s gender specific pronouns, you really won’t like the Istanbul Convention. I’d recommend reading it, but “it’s all the men’s fault and they must all be punished” is an adequate summary. Even right-on Denmark refused to sign it.
I’ll start again
‘Abuse’ and ‘violence’. Abuse can be psychological but the level of interpretation will vary from person to person.
Violence is just that, physical.
I’d be disgusted to know any man who is capable of domestic violence.
What about any woman who is capable of domestic violence? Domestic abuse/violence is a two way street and the sooner people realise it’s not just men the better.
Very true Massimo, but that doesn’t fit with the neofeminist women as victims narrative. So don’t expect it to be acknowledged.
Shane,
The difference between ‘abuse’ or ‘violence’ is of little consolation to any person in that position. People don’t really care if you use abuse over violence or violence over abuse to describe the pain they’ve been out through. Mental/emotional/physical abuse is just as bad as physical violence.
Give people support to get out of the situation, don’t tell them that really they should be saying ‘violence’ instead of ‘abuse’.
No, it’s just a different conversation. If you actually gave a damn about men (including gay, bi and trans men) in abusive situations you’d be starting that conversation instead of bitching about feminists. The focus of your comment is women, not men.
This proves that if something is repeated often enough, and by people in high places and the media, then eventually it’ll be assumed to be true. Nobody bothers to check if the “one in four women in Ireland has experienced domestic violence” quote is true but if something is repeated enough then it society will believe it. It will become true, over time as it’s repeated people will “have heard it before” and assume it to be true.
In the 1990′s an American, Professor Michael P Johnson coined the term “intimate terrorism” to define an extreme form of controlling relationship behaviour involving threats, intimidation and violence. He said the perpetrators were always men, a view that was accepted for decades, and clearly still is, in this country at any rate.
It was only about 10 years ago that people began to question this belief system and various studies emerged that proved it was clearly wrong, there are several in Ireland and we now have conclusive evidence the Domestic Violence is perpetrated equally by both sexes. Some studies even suggest that women are more violent than men as society will not accept a man being violent or aggressive towards a woman, despite what feminists may want to believe there is nothing other men despise more than a man who abuses a woman. But a woman on the other hand can be abusive and violent towards a male partner, verbally and physically. A slap, a punch or a kick her and there in public and others will accept this.
A recent study of intimate partner violence in the UK has revealed that women were just as likely to be as violent as men but more likely to use a weapon.
If our government and our laws and are based on a belief system that is 25 years old and predicated on the idea that all men are assumed to be “intimate terrorists”, predators, and not to be trusted around women or children then men in this country haven’t got a chance. That literally means all men in Ireland are assumed to be guilty of the worst crimes you could accuse any man of, they cannot be innocent. We know this is wrong, logically it’s wrong. Where’s the shelters for men? Why does the Istanbul Convention expressly discriminate against men? Women want equality, this comes as a full package in which men get equal right too, expecting to cherry pick which bits they like is not equality.
Here’s some statements from the Istanbul Convention:
“Recognising that violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between women and men, which have led to domination over, and discrimination against, women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women
Recognizing the structural nature of violence against women as gender-based violence, and that violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men”
“Recognising, with grave concern, that women and girls are often exposed to serious forms of violence such as domestic violence, sexual harassment, rape, forced marriage, crimes committed in the name of so-called “honour” and genital mutilation, which constitute a serious violation of the human rights of women and girls and a major obstacle to the achievement of equality between women and men”
“Recognising that women and girls are exposed to a higher risk of gender-based violence than men”
“Article 5 – State obligations and due diligence
1 Parties shall refrain from engaging in any act of violence against women and ensure that State authorities, officials, agents, institutions and other actors acting on behalf of the State act in conformity with this obligation.
2 Parties shall take the necessary legislative and other measures to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, punish and provide reparation for acts of violence covered by the scope of this Convention that are perpetrated by non-State actors.”
Article 12, point 4:
“Parties shall take the necessary measures to encourage all members of society, especially men and boys, to contribute actively to preventing all forms of violence covered by the scope of this Convention.”
We have neighbours that kill each other. Guards have been called a number of times. The youngest kid age 8 knocks at his next door neighbours at all hours looking for sanctuary. Last episode was 2 weeks ago where 2 squad cars a riot van and an ambulance was outside the house.
There is a 13 year old boy and a 17 year old girl in the house too. Both parents are alcoholic s
The poor kids – they need to be to be in safe homes
This has been goin on for 3 years *that we know off. When the husband lost his job.My heart goes out to the kids. I don’t see how social services can leave them in such a volatile home. Its a war zone . The guards hands are tied because no one presses charges.
We won’t be surprised if someone is killed in that house because it’s a constant thing. The neighbours next door are stressed because they feel its up to them to protect the kids and they have their own kids. The 8 year old is traumatised. The older kids are now beginning to stand up and fight back. Its not going to end well unless someone (social services / gardai ) steps in.
The whole estate is aware of what goes on due to the constant garda presence.
“The guards hands are tied because no one presses charges.”
It’s high time that we stop treating domestic abuse as a private matter. If a a guy jumps on another guy outside a pub he can be done with affray and other public order offences even if the battery victim won’t press charges. There’s a similar situation with child abuse. I reported a child rapist but the guards couldn’t do much because to do more than ask a few questions the report had to come from an immediate family member or a victim. This left another child to be raped for most of his teen years. If ever I should’ve taken the law into my own hands…
I get the feeling there is an awful lot missing from your story. Guards aren’t in the habit of letting “child rapists” away!
Obviously you’re getting the short version but unless there’s a report from the victim or an immediate family member there is very little they can do other than ask a few questions. The kid in question was told not to talk by his mother so he didn’t for a long time. This put the rapist beyond the power of the law for the time being. He’s in jail now but in the mean-time he was able to abuse his adopted son for years and the guards could do nothing. It is a failure of legislation (they couldn’t legally monitor his adopted son) and not the guards fault.
Either way, even if that bit wasn’t true, it doesn’t take away from the point that the guards need to be able to step into abusive situations regardless of the age of the abused person and that the abuse should not be viewed as a private matter any more than public order offences are.
Working in a support service we have seen one to one consultation support to women rise by just under 49% for the first half of the year and supporting women in court rise to over 64% for the same period. The severity of the abuse is also very alarming. Following the fundamental rights agency report in march 1 in 4 women are experiencing abuse but almost 70% of abuse goes unreported. This is very worrying. If you need help or support contact safe ireland website for a list of services in your area. For offaly contact offaly domestic violence support service on 0579351886.
Is it on the rise for men too? My missis slaps the face off me every time she gets pissed, and that’s usually about twice a week. I am terrified that I will lose my temper with her one of these days and react physically to one of her attacks.
These figures are, somewhat confusing.
If 1 in 4 women are experiencing abuse/domestic violence and only 30% of cases are being reported, then in excess of 3 in 4 women are experiencing domestic violence.
Since not all women are in relationships, this would suggest a figure approaching 100% of those in relationships are experiencing domestic violence.
Is this correct? Are the vast majority of women, in Ireland, experiencing domestic violence?
De Wit, yes. It is on the rise for men too. And men are not afraid to talk about it as much as they once were. There are people to talk to. Look up “Amen” a support group for men affected by domestic violence. They have proven very helpful with advice and support to men on a variety of situations.
Thanks Jeremiah, I’ll do that.
Sean, I think it’s 1 in 4 women experience it and 30% of those go on to report the incidents to the Gardai. Speaking to Women’s Aid would not be considered reporting.
DV levels are near parity… what we need is a domestic violence against the person act.. not a gender specific act…. so what happens if woman starts beating her husband/partner and he hits back???? Women are as violent as men in our modern society. .. and if a woman strikes a man that man has every right to defend himself without fear of arrest for hitting a woman
Thanks Andrea.
Coppinger is as per usual wilfully misrepresenting statistics. She’s referring I would imagine to the recent FRA report which did NOT say that 1 in 4 women were suffering from domestic violence, unless domestic violence now includes things like gendered insults or emotional pressure.
And even with that said, the report used quite dubious methods (respondents were not allowed to say whether or not they had been raped, only the interviewers could do that) more typical of a Mary Koss hit piece than research that anyone should take seriously.
And of course the survey only interviewed women.
What Coppinger and the feminist sisterhood want is to create a moral panic in order to push through their biased legislation in order to fulfill the demands of their ideology.
I imagine two important issues arise in relation to this article.
The first is the veracity of studies and the representation of the findings of studies into domestic violence in Ireland. There would seem to be an emphasis in overstating the extent of domestic violence for the purposes of grabbing news headlines and winning increased allocations from the state (often at the cost of funding to other worthy causes). Domestic violence is a real and damaging social problem, but exaggerating, or misrepresenting, its extent will, ultimately, do a disservice to its victims and undermine those that are trying to tackle it.
Secondly, is to query the competence and effectiveness of the state to remedy this problem. Will constitutional amendments, new legislation and additional resources make any impact into the problem? Part of the problem dealing with domestic violence is ‘battered spouse syndrome’. Ultimately, unless the victim attempts to help themselves the states hands are tied. Often close family and communities can much more effectively address this problem, but often believe (and are) un-empowered due to state interventionism.
Brian. using the person act reduces sovereign men and women to corporations.
Well society wanted equality- wanted women to be more like men using male energy more.
When DV issue came to the fore it was less men that were killed- because women had refuges etc to go to and were not driven to defend themselves and murder their abuser.
If you defend yourself like you say and kill the perpetrator you will do jail.
Look at USA at the number of DV Victims in for life for trying to protect themselves and for killing the perpetrators.
UK researched the cost of domestic violence, came it at 2billion a year, hence new laws brought in 5yrs ago where perpetrator of domestic violence would be charged without the evidence of the victim. This applies to female & male perpetrators, same sex couples etc Domestic violence affects both genders, male/female victims. It has devastating affects on both male/females & children. It affects us all in Irish society as if victim seeks help, misses work, hospitalised etc it cost the tax payer. Why don’t we conduct the same research. Stop arguing about the gender of the victim & look at how much it costs us all !!!
Let’s be clear about this. When Ruth Coppinger is talking about “constitutional impediments to obtaining emergency barring orders”, what she means is old-fashioned concepts like the state not throwing you out of your own house, and due process based on tenable evidence. Oh, and non-discrimination, since the Istanbul Convention only requires easy emergency barring orders for *female* (alleged) victims of DV.
Spot on Emily. I note that Ms Coppinger disparages the Constitution. The current text means that as a home owner you actually have rights and cannot be removed from your own home without due process. Ms Coppinger wishes to speed up due process which essentially means that you could be deprived of access to your own home on spurious grounds. Domestic violence is a scourge and needs to be objectively tackled but this is an attempt to tackle it on a purely ideological basis.
BS John.
Have you even seen court judgments literally landing the owner in the streets with her children- because she – victim refused the judge to go home and obey the perpetrator.?
Because of the secret courts, there is no way you can know true facts.
Any use of violence is unacceptable. But is it ‘epidemic’? What is the detail behind this ‘one if four’ figure? I know a lot of couples and violence is not a feature in the recent generations although I know it was present in older generations. Of those – it was the kind that needed a shelter in about 4% I’d love to think those days were gone. They certainly should be.
I see your point in some ways. Domestic violence has become less socially acceptable. You don’t know what happens behind closed doors though, do you? Look at any couple you know. It might be happening in their relationship. It’s a problem that crosses social classes.
In victims that I know, I have seen it completely change their personalities. The confidence was literally knocked out of them and it was a contributing factor to suicide in one of them.
The affect on children is profound. The fear they must feel when witnessing it is incomprehensible.
any will to levy profit on gambling organisation, drinks companies to contribute to a social fund to assist groups that deal with abuse and other social impacting factors like homeless or suicide? None. Address the root cause.
Any man who hits a woman isn’t a man.
Any woman who hits a man isn’t a woman.
Any woman that hits a man is not a man.
Any man that hits a woman is not a woman.
The photograph in the story just reinforces the misconception that all domestic violence is caused by men. This is nonsense and gives some women the impression that they can get away with just about anything.
Well statistics speak for themselves.
Not to make little of the men and women suffering domestic violence but do you know how easy it is to obtain a protection/safety order? IMHO it’s too easy. I go into a dc judge and say ‘he shouted at me and the kids and he slammed the front door ‘. Protection order in a jiffy. Same goes when the so hearing is heard. Bobs your uncle , safety order for a duration. I think that it may suit some people to have these orders. (A neglible number of these spurious claims can be connected to Council houses and sw claimants) These figures have to be skewed somewhat by the situation above which I see on an almost daily basis.
Barring orders, different story
have you actual experience of this? or just hearsay?
I believe there are different definitions of ‘abuse’ and
Domestic Terrorism is the best wording in my opinion, having had the experience.
have your say