Agency sets out policy on domestic violence

IN RESPONSE to your report on the domestic violence code (December 3), I would like to clarify that the South East Domestic Violence Intervention Programme is not funded by the Community Development Programme, but by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform through the new government office, Cosc.

We would like to highlight the fact that while we work with male perpetrators of domestic violence, we also work with their female partners or ex-partners and within the context of a multi-agency response.

The impression may have been given that we do not consider domestic violence to be a gender issue.

Our position is that domestic violence needs to be seen within the context of men’s violence against women.

Our concern with the code being rolled out by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs for the community development projects was that, while we welcomed it, no reference was made to the Government-funded intervention programmes for male perpetrators of domestic violence nor was there any attention given to the minority of men who experience domestic violence.

These issues were not covered in the training that accompanied the rolling out of the code.

As part of Government policy on this issue, the new code needs to be more comprehensive.

John Doyle

Co-ordinator

South East Domestic Violence Intervention Programme

30 O’Connell Street

Waterford