Digital abuse in domestic violence cases has 'skyrocketed' West Cork charity warns

'The biggest concern we have is the ongoing increase in digital abuse. It has skyrocketed because there is so much more technology that perpetrators can use to track their victims or to stalk them or control them financially.'

The use of digital abuse is “real” in domestic violence, according to a West Cork support service which saw an increase of more than 50% in its domestic abuse operations last year.

West Cork Beacon had 7,943 interventions with clients in 2025 — up by 52% from 5,214 in 2024. The interventions included court accompaniments, crisis calls and intake assessments.

Its chief executive MaryClare Clark said: “That is a huge jump. Even for the first half of the year, there is an increase there as well.

“The biggest concern we have is the ongoing increase in digital abuse. It has skyrocketed because there is so much more technology that perpetrators can use to track their victims or to stalk them or control them financially.”

She said even an act as simple as buying groceries online could now be monitored and controlled by a perpetrator, allowing them to control expenditure and see what is being purchased.

Other forms of digital abuse includes deepfakes, cyber stalking, sextortion, revenge porn and tracking.

The Irish Examiner revealed earlier this year the organisation had purchased a tracking detection device following an increase in cases involving surveillance of women by current or former partners.

One woman who lives more than four hours away from West Cork has contacted the organisation about the possibility of having her car checked for a tracker with the centre’s detection device.

Earlier this year, 39-year-old Seán Fagan, of Dunvale Crescent, Frankfield, Douglas, was sentenced to four years with the last two years suspended at Cork Circuit Criminal Court for harassment of his former partner between September 26, 2021, and March 12, 2022.

He has also been ordered to have no direct or indirect contact with his former partner, and not to go within 500m of her home or place of work for a period of 15 years.

The case heard the man turned up in the same places as her, and a tracking device was found attached to the exhaust pipe of her car when it was examined by a mechanic in March 2022. Gardaí had advised the woman to have her car examined.

When gardaí subsequently searched Fagan’s home, they found two other tracking devices, as well as a tracker app on his phone.

Ms Clark said this year had already been a difficult one in relation to deaths of women in violent circumstances.

She also said: “We have a long way to go. As a member of the domestic violence services community, we are all heartbroken and appalled at the increase in cases in the last year. 

"Not just fatal cases but the consistent uptick in victims seeking services and the increased barriers to their safety.” 

The figures are revealed as gardaí continue to liaise with international partners in their investigation into the murder of 43-year-old Jamey Carney, who was found dead in her home on Muckross Road in Killarney last Tuesday. Ahmad Al-Saqar, a Jordanian asylum seeker, fled Ireland in the hours after the killing.

They also come as the Domestic Violence Register Bill, known as Jennie’s Law, is expected to be signed into law on Wednesday.

The legislation is named after Jennifer Poole, who was murdered by her former partner Gavin Murphy in 2021.