Extreme online pornography 'fuelling gender violence', says Garda boss

Garda boss says tech firms are making "billions" from "corrupting" young men

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said domestic abuse is a 'real blight on our society', adding it was 'really a taboo subject'. Picture: James Treacy

Extreme online pornography is “corrupting” young men into inflicting serious sexual violence on women, including in relationships, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said.

Commissioner Harris said tech companies are making “billions” from this trade, which is also driving rises in domestic violence.

'A taboo subject'

The commissioner, who retires at the end of August, said greater societal awareness of the “blight” of domestic violence was needed, adding it was really a “taboo subject” in the country.

His comments come as official figures show almost 26,900 domestic abuse calls were made to gardaí in the first five months of 2025 – around 5,370 a month, on average.

It is almost on a par with 2024, which was a record year, and significantly higher than preceding years.

Mr Harris highlighted his concerns about domestic and sexual violence as he reflected on his seven-year term as commissioner at his final meeting with the renamed Policing and Community Safety Authority (PCSA) and the challenges ahead for policing. Other areas he raised were:

• Cyber crime — from child sexual abuse imagery, to online fraud scams and economic crime, saying this was the “fastest-growing area of crime” which will be fuelled by AI;
• Drugs trade — pointing out that there seemed to be “no end in the appetite for drugs”, and that despite huge seizures by gardaí they “do not seem to be denting supply” or street prices, and called for public health awareness campaigns of the damage caused by drugs.

Mr Harris, who raised gender violence as one of his priorities at the start of his term in September 2018, said recent court cases of domestic homicides painted a “grim vista”.

He said the home “should be the safest place” for women, but that too many have been murdered by their intimate partner.

“It’s a very, very sorry, tragic tale,” he said.

He agreed with PCSA chairwoman Elaine Byrne that “not the same attention” was placed on the murder of women compared to gangland murders, adding there were 12 domestic murders of women compared to two gangland murders in 2024.

Extreme pornography

Mr Harris said extreme pornography on the internet had “normalised very violent sexual conduct” by men towards women, including in relationships.

Garda figures show that 67 prosecutions for non-fatal strangulation have been taken since the offence was introduced in November 2023, some 58 of which related to domestic abuse.

Mr Harris said that domestic abuse situations “can escalate very quickly and very tragically”, but said the force had invested heavily in specialist units and training of gardaí and was improving.

He said there needed to be an awareness of domestic abuse as a “real blight on our society”, adding it was "really a taboo subject”.

On road policing, the commissioner expressed serious concern at a recent review of roads policing, which he said showed that a “substantial minority” of gardaí “seem to be little interested in road policing”.

Ms Byrne said it was a “shocking report”. On behalf of the PCSA, she thanked Mr Harris for his "seven years as a public servant".