Online porn is driving violence in sex assaults, Drew Harris tells Policing Authority

Deputy Garda Commissioner, Operations, Shawna Coxon, and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris at the meeting of the Policing Authority at the Richmond Education and Event Centre, North Brunswick St, Dublin. Picture: Leah Farrell/Rolling News

Online violent pornography is driving much of the violence gardaí are seeing in sexual assaults on women, the Garda Commissioner has said.

Drew Harris told the Policing Authority that the widespread availability of extreme imagery involving adults was effectively “unpoliced” and “unregulated”.

He said this was breeding a “normalisation” of violence against women.

In the first public meeting of 2025 with Garda leaders, the authority also heard:

• Gardaí received 1,600 domestic violence calls per week over the Christmas period, compared to 1,200 on average during other weeks;
• A “disproportionate” number of domestic violence incidents go undetected and unsanctioned because victims do not feel they can or are able to participate in the investigation and criminal justice process;
• Schools and children are confronted with situations where parents who are gangland criminals are wearing bulletproof jackets bringing their children to school;
• Some gangs have also threatened to do harm to children of rival criminals;
• A long-awaited data-sharing agreement — allowing for the electronic transfer of child abuse notifications — signed off between gardaí and Tusla in late 2023 was not implemented for a further year;
• Between November 9, 2024, and January 18, 2025, gardaí sent 61,000 notifications to Tusla through this communications network, and Tusla sent 18,000 to gardaí.

Asked about apparent increases in violence in sexual offences, Mr Harris said: “In respect to the nature of some of the sexual offending that we see reported, in terms of violence perpetrated, the modus operandi of the attack, and how it’s been perpetrated, [it’s] the normalisation of violence against women, through very violent pornography.”

He said that violent adult pornography is, in effect, a “non-regulated” area and pointed out that so much of the resources available to gardaí goes towards dealing with child abuse material.

He said this violent adult imagery is “free and very available” on the internet for anyone with a computer or smartphone.

The commissioner also said there was a steady rise in domestic violence incidents, reaching 61,000 by early December.

He said it increased during the Christmas period, with 1,600 calls per week, compared to the average of 1,200 calls during the rest of the year.

Figures provided in the Dáil last week showed the final figure for the whole of 2024, including Christmas, was 65,114 incidents.

This compared to 59,625 incidents in 2023 and 53,775 incidents in 2022 — indicating a 20% rise in two years.

Separately, Justin Kelly, Garda deputy commissioner, security and governance, told the authority that intimidation and threats between criminal gangs played out in schools.

“We have some people who go to school, they’re wearing bulletproof jackets, bringing their kids to school,” he said.

“And we’ve definitely know in the past, we’ve had situations where different organised crime groups have threatened to do various harms to children on other sides of groups.”

• If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.