Labour vows to tackle violence against women

VIOLENCE against women is at an “appalling level” in Ireland, the Labour Party said yesterday.

Launching a policy document outlining what the party would do to combat the problem if returned to power, spokeswoman Eleanor McClorey said such violence created an environment that oppresses all women, whether or not they are the direct target of the violation.

Ms McClorey chaired the Labour working group which prepared the policy, entitled, “Safety, Accountability, Responsibility”. It outlines a comprehensive strategy to tackle domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, prostitution, trafficking and pornography.

It proposes 10 key steps the party believes should be taken immediately, which include:

*Providing funding to frontline services to ensure that all women who are victims of sexual violence can access appropriate services such as helplines, support and advocacy, and counselling.

*Providing refuges as the essential specialist intervention for women and children fleeing perpetrators of domestic violence.

*Ensuring appropriate training for members of the garda and judiciary dealing with domestic and sexual violence cases.

*Addressing prostitution, trafficking and pornography as violence against women, with the focus on the criminality of buyers, pimps and traffickers.

Labour justice spokesman Brendan Howlin said the most important priority should be to provide the funding to ensure all women have access to frontline services such as a helpline.

This would cost roughly €8 million, he said, a trivial sum in terms of overall Government spending.