Calls to tackle violence against women

VIOLENCE against women is widespread in Ireland and the Government is not doing enough to fight it, a leading human rights group claimed yesterday.

Amnesty International called on the authorities to do more to identify, combat and redress this grave and systematic human rights abuse.

“What Amnesty highlights in this report is the pervasive and avoidable State failure to protect women from serious violations of their human rights,” said Sean Love, director of Amnesty’s Irish Section at the launch of Justice and Accountability: Stop Violence Against Women.

Research has found one-in-four women in Ireland experience sexual abuse in their lifetime.

At least one-in-five who have been in an intimate relationship with a man have experienced systematic violence from a partner.

Yet, Amnesty said despite increasing calls to helplines, the vast majority of women do not report this violence and the numbers doing so are dropping.

“While stigma and shame are still unfortunately an issue, low reporting is also due to women’s lack of confidence in the justice system,” Mr Love said.

Most reports of violence against women do not result in a conviction. Mr Love said there is little monitoring of the effectiveness of measures in preventing, identifying, investigating and punishing this violence.

Clear channels of accountability have not been created for government or its agents.

He also said the result of persistent under-funding of frontline support services is that victims are unable to access the support they need.

In 2003, almost 4,000 calls to the Women’s Aid helpline went unanswered while others were forced to wait months for counselling from Rape Crisis Centres.

Refuges have had to turn women and children away and some counties have no refuges at all.

“A significant body of international human rights standards sets out what is demanded of states in their combating violence against women, much of which Ireland has failed to implement,” Mr Love said.

Amongst Amnesty’s extensive recommendations to the Government are the establishment of an independent statutory body to monitor, evaluate and progress violence against women measures.

It also calls on the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to fulfil its duty to monitor activity within other departments and agencies and compile progress reports.

In July, Ireland’s latest periodic report on its realisation of women’s human rights will be reviewed by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.