merrion street

Tánaiste & Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald today launched the "What would you do?" campaign on domestic violence. 

“What would you do?” is a high impact media campaign to reach a national audience and it will feature TV, cinema, radio, outdoor, social and digital advertising. The call to action directs people to search the campaign website whatwouldyoudo.ie for information and advice on domestic violence. 

The awareness campaign is a part of the Second National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence 2016-2021. Funding of €950,000 for 2016 and 2017 was made available to run the campaign. In addition, funding of €200,000 has been awarded under the Dormant Accounts Fund to localise the campaign in 2016 and 2017.

The Tánaiste speaking at the launch of the campaign.

Speaking at the launch, the Tánaiste said: 

This campaign is about prevention. It is about empowerment and it's about support. It offers hope and support to victims of such violence and it empowers us as witnesses to such violence to find out what we can do to help stop domestic violence and to support people who are caught up in this most devastating of human experiences.

This campaign calls on us as relatives, friends neighbours, bystanders and witnesses to collectively say that domestic violence is not right and it must stop.

It's intended to run the campaign for 6 years. The first 3 years will focus on domestic violence to be followed by 3 years dealing with sexual violence but elements of each violence will feature in each phase of the campaign. 

It is recommended that bystanders and witnesses to a domestic violence incident should only get involved if it is safe and legal to do so. Search the campaign website whatwouldyoudo.ie for information and advice. If the situation is already violent or looks like escalating quickly, people should not intervene directly. Call the Gardaí on 999. The only effective bystander intervention is a non-violent one.

For more information read the press release here. 

You can find more information on the campaign at whatwouldyoudo.ie.