Report reveals litany of problems in garda treatment of domestic abuse survivors

A GARDA INSPECTORATE report has revealed a litany of problems in the service that survivors of domestic abuse receive from gardaí.

Domestic abuse victims are not receiving a consistent standard of service in dealing with gardaí across the country, the new report published today says.

The Garda Inspectorate is a statutory body tasked with ensuring that garda resources are used efficiently and effectively. 

The report details that a survey of victims found 48% were dissatisfied with how gardaí handled their initial domestic abuse report, which rose to 54% among people who made a report in person at a garda station.

Overall, 57% of respondents were satisfied with action taken by gardaí, 26% were dissatisfied and 17% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

Some of the reasons people were satisfied with investigations included that the perpetrator was arrested at the time, the perpetrator was charged and brought to court, the victim’s statement was taken, and they were taken to a safe place.

However, those who said they were not satisfied cited reasons like gardaí being too slow to take action or taking too long to deal with the case, not arresting the perpetrator, and saying that nothing could be done.

One case study in the report outlines the experience of a woman whose abusive partner was a garda member.

After persistent abuse, she reported his behaviour to gardaí despite him telling her that no one would believe her because he was a guard.

Her experience with the first garda member she engaged with was positive but her case was later reassigned to another member, who she described as uncaring and disinterested.

During her case, she experienced poor treatment from various members of the organisation, including:

• intimidation from colleagues of her ex-partner,
• complaints made to gardaí not being immediately recorded on the crime database,
• statements taken from her in connection with other crimes involving her ex-partner being inaccurate accounts of the complaints she actually made,
• and poor responses from her partner’s supervisor to complaints about his behaviour.

In the survey, just over half of respondents said they had not been given information from gardaí about support services that are available.

The report details that rates of arrest, including for breaches of domestic violence orders, varied significantly across garda divisions. 

Additionally, gardai did not examine the arrest rates at a strategic level to understand the reasons for variation in rates. 

Most domestic abuse incidents are investigated by members of regular units. Although there are protocols in place to re-assign more serious cases to Divisional Protective Services Units, investigations that should have been reassigned were often retained by regular unit members due to limited capacity.

The Garda Inspectorate has sent dozens of recommendations to An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice to try to rectify the many issues.

In a statement, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said: “Domestic abuse is a devastating crime that requires a strong and coordinated response, as is reflected in Zero Tolerance: the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence.

“Combatting domestic abuse and ensuring that there is a consistent service available to all victims and survivors is a major priority for me as minister for justice,” he said.

“I urge anyone who is in fear or danger due to domestic abuse or any other crime, to please contact the Gardaí as soon as you can do so safely. We must ensure that every victim who comes forward is met with a response that is compassionate, effective and consistent.

“Strengthening trust and confidence in our justice system is essential in encouraging victims to seek help and holding perpetrators to account.

“The findings of the report will guide further improvements, and my department and I will continue to work closely with An Garda Síochána and Cuan in this regard.”