Laws around domestic violence - It’s time to update laws

We may not jail women for going to volleyball matches but, as yesterday’s report from Women’s Aid suggests, we still have some way to go before we can say that this is an equal society where all citizens, irrespective of their gender, are as protected by the law as they might be.

The report pointed out that long-promised legislation on emergency barring orders and the creation of a specific criminal offence of stalking has not materialised and that domestic abuse and sexual violence are still far too common. This violence against women has resulted in, on average, the unlawful killing of a woman every month since 1996. In some 78 of those cases women were killed by partners or former partners and some 10 children were killed alongside their mothers in those attacks.

Women’s Aid also pointed out that last week’s report from the Garda Inspectorate revealed that the policing culture in the Republic often minimised violence against women.

There can be few situations as difficult as being trappedin an abusive or violent relationship, especially if the solution to that crisis means fleeing, often with frightened children, the family home at very short notice. The inability to get emergency barring orders exacerbates that awful situation.

No one in this society imagines domestic violence is acceptable and therefore it is well beyond time our laws reflected that position in the strongest possible ways.