Domestic violence is 'elephant in room'

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE is probably the only crime where it is the victim who must leave the home, Minister of State for Justice Kathleen Lynch has told the Dáil.

“We have dealt with the issues of incest and rape and insist that the perpetrator be placed at a disadvantage,” she said.

Describing domestic violence as “the elephant in the room”, she told People Before Profit TD Joan Collins (Dublin South Central) that “if you and I were attacked tonight on our way home, were beaten and terrified for hours and driven out of our homes, and if we knew the perpetrator, they would be charged”.

Ms Collins had highlighted the 42 per cent increase in the number of women contacting domestic violence services and that in 2010 women could not be accommodated in refuges on 3,236 occasions.

Ms Collins said Teach Tearmainn, a domestic violence service provider in Co Kildare, had almost completed a new development which included four self-contained apartments to be used as crisis accommodation for victims. She said it should be funded to do so.

Ms Collins said the Leinster area provided 80 per cent of all domestic abuse-related services across the State but they were given two weeks’ notice by the HSE of a 10 per cent cut.

“Violent assaults, rape and abuse of children, including of the unborn through violent attacks on pregnant women”, were taking place in families behind closed doors. “There must be an urgent response,” she said.

She also called for Ireland to sign the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women.

Ms Lynch said she agreed “domestic violence is an absolute scandal. However, we must also address the elephant in the room.”

She said: “If there are that many women running with their children in fear of their lives to find refuge in places outside their homes, what are we doing about the perpetrator?”

The Minister said that in the wake of the increased demand for services, the HSE was engaged in a national and regional review of domestic violence service provision. This was to ensure that funding was allocated to areas of need. She said the health service provided €14 million in funding for a wide range of support.