Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for your kind invitation to speak at the launch of this book “RESPONDING TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: EMERGING CHALLENGES FOR POLICY, PRACTICE AND RESEARCH IN EUROPE”. I would personally like to thank Prof. Eoin O’Sullivan, the editors of and contributors to the book and all of you who have taken an interest in this work for coming along this evening. This book is a significant volume which makes a substantial contribution to many of the debates (old and new) across Europe. The book sets out the European context and showcases the evidence base, the development of effective policies and of innovative practice responses in Europe. In doing so, it confirms that domestic violence continues to be a significant and complex social problem, and one that has become increasingly diverse over time and across Europe and elsewhere. This publication, which emerged out of the inaugural European Conference on Domestic Violence at Queen’s University Belfast in 2015, is the first of its kind to present a coordinated focus on domestic violence through a three-way European lens of practice, policy and research. The conference drew together over 500 delegates from 32 countries involved in research, policy and practice, and this book similarly reflects a sample of those contributions across the three areas of interest. Each of the chapter contributors and editors are to be commended for their dedication, rigour and intellectual influence. Much of it, I am sure, will inform thinking around policy, practice and research in the sector, both for State and non-State agencies, academics and front-line practitioners.
The protection of both women, men and children from domestic violence and abuse remain primary concerns for me. Domestic Violence is an evil that continues to plague our society. Its impact on victims is devastating.
The Istanbul Convention is a significant legal instrument in the fight against domestic violence against women. Ireland is fully supportive of the aims and terms of the Convention and signed the Convention on 5 November 2015. Signing the Convention reaffirms the commitment of the Government to foster a culture and to implement meaningful changes which can help reduce the incidence of such violence, better support victims and bring the perpetrators to justice. But signing the Convention is just one further step on a much more substantial journey.
The Government has approved an Action Plan for the implementation of the Istanbul Convention in Ireland. This outlines the steps required for Ireland to fully ratify the Istanbul Convention in due course.
Actions contained in the Plan include:
· A range of legislative measures including the new Domestic Violence Bill and the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act, 2017;
· Provision of education and training of public sector staff involved in this area;
· Development and delivery of training for legal professionals;
· Implementation of co-ordinated, integrated national helpline service provision for responding to domestic and sexual violence
All of the actions, including those relating to data collection and research, required for the ratification of the Istanbul Convention are contained in the Second National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence 2016-2021 which was published in January 2016. The strategy, building on its predecessor, envisages a range of actions to be implemented by State, voluntary and community sector organisations. In addition to the important actions dealing with education and awareness raising, there are specific actions for the collection of data, the provision of services to victims of violence and for holding the perpetrators of such violence to account. These actions include timelines for their implementation.
Cosc – the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (based in my Department) - holds primary responsibility for monitoring the implementation of the actions in the Second National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence, giving effect to requirements under the Convention, in relation to the improvement of data collection, research and analysis in the area. I was pleased that officials in Cosc contributed a chapter to this new publication which reflects on the journey of strategy and policy development in the area of such violence in Ireland.
On the international stage, Cosc is involved in deliberations with state and non-state agencies, including some academic institutes, on improving administrative data collection and analysis on gender-based violence at the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). Discussions, to date, have revolved around definitions of different forms of violence; standardised gathering of data on gender-based violence across Europe for statistical purposes; and the inclusion of a measure/indicator of gender-based violence in EIGE’s Gender Equality Index. It is anticipated that this work will inform the forthcoming pan-European survey on gender-based violence administered by Eurostat.
At home, the Government is also making progress in combating domestic violence. Key achievements to date include the launching of the multi annual national awareness raising campaign “What would you do?” - to change societal behaviours and activate bystanders to prevent domestic violence; the publishing of the Domestic Violence Bill and the enactment of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act, 2017; the ongoing development of perpetrator programmes with community and voluntary sector; a new Garda policy on domestic violence which is victim centred; and the establishment of a Garda National Protective Services Bureau and Victim Services Offices as well as the piloting of Divisional Protective Services Offices.
Key actions being progressed include:
i) The implementation of a risk assessment for all victims of domestic violence by An Garda Síochána
ii) The commissioning of domestic and sexual violence Helplines by Tusla
iii) The establishment of a gold standard with regard to the disaggregation of data.
The Second National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence contains an action to enact the Domestic Violence Bill. The Bill was published on 3 February and has passed all stages in the Seanad and is due for debate in the Dáil later this week.
This legislation will enhance the legislative measures available within the civil law system to support and protect victims. The Bill, when enacted, will also introduce reforms under the Istanbul Convention.
Key improvements include:
· Access to a new emergency barring order for 8 working days in a crisis situation. The person will not have to have a greater or equal property interest in the property from which the perpetrator is being barred.
· Access to safety and protection orders will be extended to those in intimate and committed relationships who are not cohabiting.
· An offence of coercive control will be created. This is psychological abuse in an intimate relationship that causes fear of violence, or serious alarm or distress that has a substantial adverse impact on a person’s day-to-day activities.
· The Bill provides for the relationship between a defendant and victim to be taken into account by the court as an aggravating factor in sentencing for violent and sexual offences, including manslaughter.
· It will be possible for a victim to give evidence by televisual link to avoid the risk of intimidation by the perpetrator or an associate in civil and criminal proceedings.
· The court will be able to appoint an expert to ascertain the views of a child where an order is sought on behalf of, or will partly relate to, the child.
· There will be restrictions on the categories of person allowed to be in court during criminal proceedings relating to domestic violence, so that the victim will not have to give evidence, potentially of a distressing nature, before a large number of strangers.
· The court in a domestic violence case will be able to refer a perpetrator to services which address the roots of the offending behaviour.
· The Bill provides for a new criminal offence of forced marriage.
Let me return to the core purpose of our being here today. Knowledge and information are essential to making effective policies to prevent and combat domestic and sexual violence. Developing knowledge and the means by which to capture requisite information on victims and perpetrators of such violence enables policy makers to appraise developments on an ongoing basis and to amend and improve policy in the area as appropriate.
Data collection and research are fundamental for the design of evidence-based policies and actions needed to guard and support victims and to eradicate domestic and sexual violence. Furthermore, data collection and research are necessary to ascertain whether policies are working towards preventing such violence. This book provides a much-needed platform to discuss what we understand to be the key issues, debates and challenges, for researchers, policy-makers and practitioners alike, in domestic violence in a European context and, for this, we should be extremely grateful. It is indeed a timely publication.
In conclusion, thank you for the opportunity to be here today and to outline some of the initiatives this Government is taking in this important area and to express my appreciation for the work involved in putting something like this together. Again, I would like to thank the editors, the chapter contributors, officials in Cosc in my Department and all involved in organising this event to highlight the importance of adopting a practical approach to this difficult area of work.
I am sure you will all enjoy this evening and I wish you well in your deliberations at tomorrow’s seminar on “Responding to Domestic Violence: New Perspectives on Old Debates”. I wish to welcome all our international speakers here this evening. I also wish to express my appreciation for the work of the Post-Graduate Research Network on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence which is also hosting an event tomorrow in Trinity following the seminar.
Many thanks to all concerned and I am more than happy to officially launch this new publication. Like the editors and chapter authors of the book, I too recognise that the process of building the connectivity between evidence and action is a complex one. Nonetheless, let me conclude with the assertion, shared by the authors of this book that “this complexity needs to be embraced as an opportunity, and not perceived simply as a problem.”
Thank you.