Amnesty seeks more funding for domestic violence services

The Irish branch of Amnesty International has called on the Government to provide more resources for services that help female victims of domestic violence.

The organisation said women were reluctant to report such crimes to gardaí because they lacked faith in the legal system and were instead turning to private support services.

Amnesty said calls to domestic violence helplines are currently increasing, while the reporting of such crimes to gardaí was on the decrease.

Spokesperson Fiona Crowley said: "The front-line voluntary services are filling the core human rights obligations of the Government in providing support services and are persistently underfunded to do so.

"Their funding has been frozen since 2003, despite ever-increasing calls to their services."