Second Opinion: When will we see a robust response to domestic violence in Ireland?

Domestic violence is poorly understood in Ireland. The Garda chaplain, Fr Joe Kennedy, when interviewed on RTÉ1's Morning Ireland after the murder of Garda Tony Golden in Omeath, Co Louth, on October 11th, said "[Tony] was just keeping the peace."

Well, actually, no, he was doing something more important than that. He was trying to protect a woman from the serious crime of domestic violence. Keeping the peace is what happens in town centres when drunk people lose their tempers and have to be arrested. Keeping the peace is about breaking up fights at wedding and funerals and ensuring protest marches are peaceful.

Domestic violence is different from other forms of violence because it is about power and maintaining control over spouses and partners. As such, it requires a more robust and sophisticated response from society and the criminal justice system than just keeping the peace.

The power element means all domestic violence situations are potentially extremely dangerous. Anyone who tries to help the victim, usually a woman, is at risk. Ninety per cent of perpetrators of domestic violence are men.

Misunderstood

Domestic violence is misunderstood in Ireland because little is known about its prevalence, or the perpetrators. Neither the Central Statistics Office nor the Garda collect data on domestic violence, although this will change in 2016.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission report Ireland and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 2015 noted "there continues to be no specific criminal code dealing with the crime of domestic violence and no statutory definition of domestic violence in the Irish legal framework".

The concluding observations from the UN Economic and Social Council noted “the Committee is concerned that domestic violence is pervasive in [Ireland]. It is further concerned at the legislative gaps in investigating and sanctioning the perpetrators as well as providing protection and assistance to victims of domestic violence and the lack of systematic data collection, as well as the insufficient support services for these victims due to funding cuts.”

The 2014 Garda Inspectorate Report found that crimes of domestic violence were often recorded incorrectly or not at all. The 2013 Annual Report from Women's Aid, the latest available, shows that 16,464 women reported being stabbed, punched raped, kicked, choked, beaten, stalked and harassed. It can be estimated that many more women are at the receiving end of domestic violence.

In Northern Ireland, which records these crimes separately, there were 28,287 incidents of domestic abuse last year, equating to 77 incidents every day or three every hour. Three-quarters of victims were female.

As domestic violence cultures are similar in both jurisdictions, it can be estimated that more than 70,000 women are subjected to domestic violence in the Republic every year, or four times the number recorded by Women’s Aid.

The European Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, firmly establishes the link between achieving gender equality and the eradication of violence against women. It recognises that domestic violence is different to other forms of violence.

“Based on this premise, [the Convention] recognises the structural nature of violence against women and that it is a manifestation of the historically unequal power relations between women and men. Discrimination against women provides a breeding ground for tolerance towards violence against women.”

The good news is that the Irish Government has finally approved the signing of the Convention, and a spokesman for the Department of Justice and Equality confirmed this will take place within the next month.

Thirty-eight European countries have already signed it and 18 have ratified it. States that sign up must treat domestic violence incidents as serious crimes, including psychological violence, stalking, and harassment. They must also prevent domestic violence through awareness- raising and education.

Cosc, the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender- based Violence, has produced guiding principles for public awareness-raising of domestic violence and recommends that the focus should be on “perpetrator behaviour, choices, actions and their accountability”. Despite this, the new Women’s Aid campaign, “Don’t be afraid”, which is funded by Cosc, focuses entirely on victims.

The campaign encourages women living with domestic violence to speak up. A campaign focused on perpetrators might say, Be afraid, you will be caught and severely punished.

Maybe it is time to phase out women’s refuges and start building hostels for perpetrators while they await their day in court. Pigs will fly before we see such an enlightened approach to domestic violence in this country.

The Women’s Aid National Freephone Helpline is 1800341900.

drjackyjones@gmail.com

Dr Jacky Jones is a former HSE regional manager of health promotion and a member of the Healthy Ireland council.