Campaign sees 28% increase in calls to Women's Aid helpline

Women's Aid has seen a 28 per cent increase in calls to its helpline since a public awareness campaign began three weeks ago.

There was a 9 per cent increase in first-time contacts, according to the charity which works to support women suffering domestic violence.

Of those calling the helpline for the first time, more than a fifth - 22 per cent - said they were calling as a direct result of seeing the television advertising campaign. The End the Silence campaign is funded by the Department of Justice.

Women's Aid director Margaret Martin said she was both heartened and saddened at the increase in calls.

"The increase in calls shows that victims of domestic violence seek help once they know it's available and it is satisfying to know that the campaign has made a real difference to people's lives.

"For some of our callers this is not just the first time calling us but the first time they have told anyone what is happening to them."

She said the fact that so many of the new callers had said the advertising campaign had been the impetus behind their call showed clearly the need for an ongoing public awareness campaign. "The challenge for all of us is to keep the message out there even after this campaign is finished," Ms Martin said.

The television advertisement, which features a girl playing with her dolls making them re-enact the violence inflicted on her mother by her father, will continue to run until Sunday.

Meanwhile, the National Women's Council of Ireland marked International Women's Day yesterday by saying the Government had reneged on its promises to increase the numbers of female representatives in all key decision-making arenas.

At a Women's Political Caucus meeting in the Mansion House in Dublin, the council's deputy chair Marie Hainsworth asked: "How can we claim to live in a democracy when 51 per cent of our population are women, but only 13 per cent of people elected to the Dáil are women? How can the important issues of childcare, health and social welfare be adequately discussed if women are not part of that discussion?"

The Irish Government was one of 188 from across the world which, in Beijing in 1995, committed itself to taking action on women's rights as human rights.

It agreed to "ensure women's equal access to and full participation in power structures and decision-making".

Ms Hainsworth said the government "must be held to the promises it made 10 years ago this September".