Abused women flooding helpline with calls

CALLS for help from women in violent and abusive relationships almost doubled this year.

And the extent of Christmas misery suffered by women and children is only now being realised by support groups.

The Women’s Aid helpline manager Sara Benson said that calls for help in 2002 were expected to exceed the 16,000 mark by the end of the year.

During the first six months of this year almost 9,000 people availed of the service.

Ms Benson said that their phone lines were always quiet in the period coming up to Christmas. “Women in violent or abusive relationships don’t usually look for help until after Christmas when they get a chance to make a telephone call in private.”

Ms Benson said that their helpline volunteers were now dealing with a post-Christmas flood of telephone calls from distressed women.

Women’s Aid emergency support workers were also following up a number of calls for help from women caught in extremely dangerous situations.

Ms Benson said that the majority of women who call their helplines are suffering mental and physical abuse and children were often involved.

Women’s Aid did not know why more women in violent and abusive relationships were seeking their help.

“It may simply be that women are aware that modern society will no longer tolerate violent and abusive relationships and the women know that they have someone to telephone for help.”

She said that the statistics made shocking reading because they were a measure of the violence that goes on behind closed doors.

Meanwhile, almost 400 children rang the ISPCC’s Childline service on Christmas Day.

ISPCC chief executive Paul Gilligan reported that the service experienced a 50% rise in the number of distress calls received.

Mr Gilligan said that over the last five years Childline had noticed a marked rise in alcohol-related problems over Christmas.

“These difficulties include domestic violence, inter-peer violence and premature, inappropriate sexual activity,” he pointed out.

While Childline did receive calls from children who just wanted to chat, the increase in the dramatic increase in the number of calls received on Christmas Day indicated that there were a lot of unhappy children out there.

“The fact that these children felt that they had to telephone Childline on Christmas Day when most families are enjoying themselves must concern us,” he said.

Home truths about Ireland’s spiral of violence:

Four out of every 10 women who had been involved in a sexual relationship with a man experienced violence.

Children are present in the house or witnessed the violence in a significant amount of cases.

Since the beginning of 1996, 81 women have been murdered in Ireland. Of those 53 were killed in their own homes.

Of the 44 female murder cases that have been resolved, all have been perpetrated by a man and in 19 cases (almost 50%), the murder was committed by a partner or ex-partner.

In all cases awaiting trial it is a man who has been charged.

Women’s Aid freephone helpline is 1800 341 900. Their website address is www.womensaid.ie.