I am very happy indeed to be here today to launch Ireland’s Second National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence, which will run for six years to 2021.
I’d like to thank Gordon Jeyes and Commissioner O’Sullivan for their presence here today and for the commitment their organisations have shown in helping us get to this point and to delivering the strategy over the next six years. The bulk of the strategy’s actions rightly involve providing services to victims and holding perpetrators to account. Both Tusla and An Garda Síochána have a key part to play in this.
The first national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence ran from 2010 to 2014. Work to develop a new strategy began in 2014. There has been extensive consultation with State agencies and the voluntary sector in the development of this strategy.
It is important to recognise that the fight against domestic and sexual violence did not enter some sort of sleep or pause mode when the first national strategy concluded in 2014. During 2015, while this strategy was being developed and finalised, a range of legislative and administrative measures were taken in this area.
In October the Government approved the signing of the Istanbul Convention and I brought a multi-annual action plan to Cabinet. When implemented, this action plan will enable Ireland to ratify the Convention. The 18 action points in this plan are now part of the Second National Strategy.
I published the general scheme of the Domestic Violence Bill on 24 July 2015. This legislation will enhance the legislative measures available within the civil law system to support and protect victims. This is in fulfilment of a commitment in the Programme for Government to introduce a single consolidated and reformed statute to address all aspects of domestic violence to provide protection to victims.
Another significant development in the fight against sexual violence is the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill, published by me on 23 September 2015 and currently in the Seanad. This Bill is the most comprehensive and wide ranging piece of sexual offences legislation to be introduced in almost a decade. The Bill includes wide ranging provisions to enhance the protection of children and vulnerable persons from sexual abuse and exploitation. This legislation also provides for harassment orders whereby a court can impose an order prohibiting a convicted sex offender from contacting or approaching his victim for a specified period of time.
An Garda Síochána also took a range of measures which will improve the experience of people reporting crime to them. These include the new National Garda Protective Services Bureau, led by Chief Superintendent Kennedy, and the establishment of a new nationwide network of Garda Victim Service Offices with dedicated staff in each of the 28 Garda Divisions.
Another significant development in relation to the investigation of sexual offences is the enactment of the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act and the launch of a new state-of-the-art DNA Database System. The database became operational on 20 November 2015. This will provide another tool to enhance the forensic capacity of An Garda Síochána in bringing perpetrators to justice.
The EU Victims Directive, which came into force on 16 November 2015, sets out to provide minimum standards across the European Union for the treatment of victims of crime, including victims of sexual violence and domestic violence.
The criminal justice agencies have been working to provide a service to victims in line with the standard set out in the Victims Directive. An Garda Síochána have trained members of all ranks to implement the new policies and procedures that they have put in place to ensure that victims of crime across all 28 Garda Districts receive a comprehensive and consistent response. The Courts Service and the Office of the DPP have also put in place new procedures and practices to enable victims to receive the rights provided by the Directive. I welcome the comments today from the Garda Commissioner acknowledging that victims of domestic violence are central to the new Domestic Abuse policy. Reporting abuse to an Garda Síochána is an important first step that a victim can take in taking control of the wrong that's happening to them. Its crucial that victims are supported throughout the criminal justice process in order to hold perpetrators to account, reduce recidivism and send a clear message that society will not tolerate these crimes.
The above demonstrates that work in combating domestic and sexual violence was underway in 2015, showing continuity from the previous national strategy. Actions with commencement dates or completion dates in 2015 were ongoing prior to this strategy being finalised and point to progress being made by the State in this area despite the absence of a formal strategy.
What this strategy is about
Ultimately the vision for the second national strategy is to make Ireland a safer and better place to live. It is structured around three high level goals:
i) Prevention, which includes awareness raising, training and education
ii) Services to victims and holding perpetrators to account and
iii) in support of these goals, data gathering, monitoring and research.
One of the new developments under the Strategy and indeed one of the very first actions of this national strategy is the development and implementation of a national awareness raising campaign. To that end I’m very pleased to say that I have secured almost €1m for 2016 to undertake such a campaign. The aims of the campaign are to bring about a change in long established societal behaviours and attitudes in relation to domestic and sexual violence, and to activate bystanders with the aim of preventing domestic violence. The campaign needs to be hard hitting and must show the unacceptability and the effects of domestic and sexual violence. My aspiration is that the awareness raising campaign will have a significant impact by making a real and substantial difference to people’s lives, offering hope and support to those affected by these despicable crime and that it will send an irrefutable message to perpetrators that this violence is totally unacceptable in Ireland and that it must stop.
To complement this awareness raising campaign among the general public the strategy contains an extensive suite of training and education provisions. State officials dealing with victims of domestic and sexual violence will be trained to provide a more responsive service. The academic and professional education provision for community and voluntary sector service providers will be assessed to establish any gaps and these gaps will be addressed. Finally, legal practitioners will find initial and developmental training on domestic and sexual violence being provided by the Law Society, the Bar Council and the King’s Inns.
The “whole of government” approach which was a feature of the first strategy is also evident in the strategy’s actions which involve a range of State and non-State actors. I am confident that partners identified in the strategy will build on their work together to date to advance the agenda on this very sensitive but immensely important set of issues.
Domestic and sexual violence are pernicious evils and a blight on any civilised society. Therefore, it would be naive to think that any state or voluntary sector organisation could single-handedly resolve the issues involved. It would also be naive to think that there is any silver bullet which the State could use to abolish domestic or sexual violence. Their complex nature requires a whole of Government solution.
What I have endeavoured to do with this strategy is to provide a set of robust actions which are pragmatic. They are also ambitious actions. Most importantly they are not mere aspirations. In concluding discussions on the new action plan, which is the driving force of the second national strategy, I insisted that all actions would be achievable with resources which agencies already had at their disposal. In addition a timescale has been identified for each and every action. I am confident that as the economic situation continues to improve here in Ireland that additional actions will be added to this strategy. This is why you have a folder today with two documents.
One document contains my personal overview, followed by a number of context setting remarks. These context setting remarks articulate the vision behind the strategy. As I said at the beginning the vision can be boiled down into a simple statement: to make Ireland a safer place, in the context of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
The other document, which is far longer than the first document is the action plan. This is the living document that will change, evolve and grow year on year.
Among the new activities in the action plan are the following:,
· A range of legislative measures including the new Domestic Violence Bill,
· the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill and
· The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill
· A range of measures to be undertaken by An Garda Síochána to improve the service provided to victims including implementing a risk assessment for all victims of domestic violence and sexual crime;
· focusing on recidivist perpetrators; and
· A planned and managed approach by An Garda Síochána to each report of a domestic violence incident
· The building of a new family court complex in Dublin; and
· The establishment of a family court system throughout the country.
The Commissioner has spoken more extensively about the response of An Garda Síochána.
Role of the community and voluntary sector
The role of the community and voluntary sector has been important in the development of the strategy and you must be thanked for your work in that regard. You, in collaboration with the State funders, have a crucial role in helping deliver a successful strategy. In that regard, I welcome Tusla’s recognition that the success of implementing the strategy’s Istanbul Convention actions is dependent on engagement and partnership with the community and voluntary sector organisations. I also acknowledge your role in assisting An Garda Síochána in developing the Domestic Abuse Intervention Policy and in the development of the Risk Assessment process. You provide services and you will contribute to the monitoring of the strategy. At one level the sector spends in the region of €40m each year, most of which is devoted to the provision of front line services. At another level you have a crucial role in bringing a critical but cooperative voice to the table. I know that you will commit to a full engagement with this strategy and its action plan.
Victims
I have left until the end one of the most important stakeholders in this strategy, namely the individual victims. While we must do everything we can to prevent domestic and sexual violence we must also be realistic and acknowledge that new victims will continue to experience these violations. Therefore, we must be very aware of the impact of this strategy on new and existing victims. I would summarise these impacts in the following terms:
· As a result of the awareness raising campaign there will be more recognition and understanding of the incidence of domestic and sexual violence among the general public
· Bystander intervention will occur if it is safe to do so
· There will be a decrease in domestic and sexual violence
· There will be increased reporting by victims and others and
· Perpetrators / potential perpetrators will be made aware of the sanctions for offending.
· The development of education programmes for all levels in the education system should mean that the incidence of and tolerance of sexual and domestic violence will decrease over time,
· The provision of education and training of public sector staff will give rise to more responsive public services for victims,
· Legislative and court service actions will make the family court system more accessible to victims and increase the likelihood that perpetrators will be held to account.
Conclusion
I would like to thank all of you who have come here at short notice to attend this launch. I would also like to thank all those who have worked hard to get the Strategy to this day. I hope that we can count on your continued hard work to advance the actions under the strategy. I agree with Gordon that behind the relatively simple aims of the strategy there lies much work, difficult work, to be done in changing society’s attitudes, in improving supports to victims and in holding perpetrators to account. There will of course be challenges in implementing this strategy but I’m confident that any challenge can be overcome by all actors fully engaging. The strategy is a real opportunity to make a real difference in peoples lives, an opportunity that is too important for us not to grasp. In conclusion I would urge you to read, study and reflect on both documents in your folders, as a prelude to concerted action.