Unacceptable: Tackling domestic violence

EVENTS of recent days exposed what can unfold when a violent, sadistic person targets a vulnerable woman.

The details revealed in the Elaine O’Hara murder trial were so deeply disturbing that ordinary — for want of a better word — violence against women might be seen almost as trivial and discounted.

Unfortunately that may have happened already. Research carried out on behalf of Safe Ireland has found that gardaí, solicitors, and judges are guilty of a “hidden bias” when confronted with victims of domestic violence.

The report — The Lawlessness of the Home — follows on from the Garda Inspectorate which found that 11,000 domestic-violence calls led to only 287 arrests and that domestic-violence incidents were often regarded as a nuisance rather than a crime.

Whether this casualisation, this denial, is a cultural blind spot or something more sinister is unacceptable.

It might be wise to ask if ever greater exposure to pornography fuels this indifference.

Whatever is at this root of this trend, it is unacceptable — as those accused well know.

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