Need for domestic violence initiatives to focus on rehab

Ireland’s under-resourced programmes for those involved in domestic violence are failing victims and perpetrators by not focusing on the need for rehabilitation, according to one of the country’s most senior law lecturers.

In a new article written for the International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, Louise Crowley, vice dean and senior lecturer at the School of Law in University College Cork, said the 13 intervention programmes for male perpetrators received €390,000 in combined government funding in 2013 and “their capacity is limited and their geographical spread is restrictive”.

Dr Crowley said “the restricted capacity results in a severely inadequate response”, with areas such as Connaught and the border areas having fewer services than Leinster and Munster.