Irish Examiner view: Domestic abuse figures a wake-up call

Some 3,450 women and 589 children had contacted a domestic violence service for the first time, seeking support and safety from abuse and coercive control during the first six months of Covid-19. File picture.

In 2020, as the enormity of the pandemic started to become clear, there were appeals for political leaders to recognise and protect another vulnerable group. This group was not being highlighted for its susceptibility to Covid-19, but for the increased chance that they would face abuse as a result of the pandemic and that they would face it in their homes.

The places most people retreated to — or were forced to retreat to — for work and rest, for Netflix and family time, to ride out the worst of the virus, was the place that offered domestic abuse victims a greater threat than the outdoors.

On April 11, 2020, United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres tweeted: “Many women under lockdown for [Covid-19] face violence where they should be safest: in their own homes. I urge all governments to put women’s safety first as they respond to the pandemic.”

By November last year, this newspaper reported around 3,450 women and 589 children had contacted a domestic violence service for the first time, seeking support and safety from abuse and coercive control during the first six months of Covid-19.

In March this year, Women’s Aid CEO Sarah Benson described the pandemic as a “gift” to perpetrators of domestic violence. “The primary tactics of an abuser in the context of domestic violence is to isolate somebody from their family, from their friends, from their support networks,” she said.

More than 43,000 calls were received by gardaí on domestic abuse incidents in 2020 — an increase of 17% on 2019. These incidents extend to every facet of our society, including the gardaí. 

The Irish Examiner revealed on Saturday that at least 21 serving gardaí have had barring orders issued against them since January 2019. 

Of the 21 cases, nine are under criminal investigation for breaching the orders and five of those “include elements of coercive control”. 

On Monday a former garda was sentenced to six months, with three months suspended, for domestic abuse-related offences, following an investigation by Gsoc.

Our resilience in the face of Covid-19 has been highlighted many times, but the cruelty of the pandemic is clear in that it left vulnerable people and communities isolated in circumstances where resilience mattered little.

Politicians and health officials have been consistent and clear that the rules essentially telling people to stay at home did not apply to domestic abuse victims, but are people under controlling circumstances getting access to that information?

When we hear that leaving the house with symptoms of Covid-19 is akin to drink-driving, does that help them?

It is a cause for concern that Budget 2022 did not recognise what Mr Guterres urged governments to consider as a priority.

Safe Ireland CEO Mary McDermott said of the budget that it is “bewildering that political and public policymakers have ignored the epidemic of domestic violence, failed to take note of evidence of how to redress the problem, and have not acted to bring [domestic violence] infrastructure up to date”.

Our political leaders, our gardaí, and domestic abuse support groups require greater power and resources to protect the people suffering behind closed doors.