8,000 calls to Women’s Aid go unanswered

ALMOST 8,000 calls made to the Women’s Aid helpline went unanswered in 2004 due to a lack of staff, it was revealed yesterday.

The organisation said an additional €70,000 annually from Government was needed to address the problem, as the number of calls made to the helpline, primarily by women who had been assaulted in the home, had increased.

Women’s Aid expressed alarm at helpline figures which showed some 1,800 calls related to abuse of children, while 40% of those calls specified abuse of children during access visits.

Women’s Aid research policy officer Rachel Mullen said the Probation and Welfare Service needed urgent resourcing to allow risk assessments be carried out before parental access is granted in the courts.

“The courts are not sufficiently resourced to do risk assessments where there is a violent father seeking access to his children,” she said.

“Often, access is sought only as a way of continuing access to the mother.

“The Probation and Welfare Service needs to be further resourced to go back into family law to carry out work for the courts on risk assessment, like in the criminal system.

“In family law civil cases, the judge has to make a call without that information.”

Women’s Aid Helpline figures showed 19,901 calls were made to the service in 2004, of which 12,147 were responded to. Some 7,754 calls could not be answered.

The phoneline operates seven days a week from 10am to 1pm, but the organisation said two more people were required, at least, to ensure most of the calls were fielded.

Reported physical abuse was at the centre of 30% of calls, ranging from being choked unconscious to suffocation, being cut with sharp objects such as knives, to beatings with golf clubs, shovels and other objects.

The reported sexual abuse, 9% of calls, included women being sexually assaulted in front of children and being forced to have sex with friends.

Meanwhile, economic abuse included women being refused money or access to money and having to get by on a small “allowance”. There were also an alarming number of calls relating to violence perpetrated against women when pregnant, often resulting in miscarriages.

Women’s Aid director Margaret Martin said the increase in the number of unanswered calls followed a similar increase in unanswered calls in 2003.

“Some of those calling us are in urgent need of assistance. It is unacceptable that we cannot respond due to lack of resources. In order to fully ensure that we are capable of responding to all calls, it is vital that volunteers keep coming forward, and particularly that statutory funding of the helpline is increased,” she said.

“While the number of calls being made to the service is increasing, our ability to respond remains unchanged. We do not have the resources to fully respond to the demand.”

Minister of State at the Department of Justice with special responsibility for Equality Issues, Frank Fahey, told the group he was optimistic more resources would be made available in light of the statistics.