Enhanced services and supports must be provided to all victims of domestic violence – O’Dowd

Victims of domestic violence and their families must be prioritised when it comes to services and supports from initial reporting to rebuilding their lives after escaping their abuser, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Louth Deputy Fergus O’Dowd also reiterated his call for a tougher sentencing policy for perpetrators of domestic abuse including for those who breach court orders that are in place to protect their victims.

“Figures provided to me show that over a four-year period from 2018 to 2021, the number of incidents of breaches of domestic violence court orders reported to An Garda Siochana rose by over 50% from 3035 to 4675 incidents. The increase continued last year with 4741 breaches of court orders reported to the Gardai.

“These include barring orders, interim barring orders, protection orders and safety orders and are in put in place by the Courts to protect victims from their perpetrators.

“There was a similar rise in the number of individuals convicted for breaching domestic violence orders in the District Court, from 343 to 530 convictions in 2021. There was slight drop in convictions to 502 in 2022, but 183 convictions recorded in the first three months of this year indicate an upward trend again this year.

“Figures also provided to me show that of the 531 court orders for imprisonment served in the District Court for court order breaches, just half of those perpetrators served time behind bars with 264 receiving a suspended sentence.

“Of 600 prison court orders served in 2021, over half of perpetrators (322) received a suspended sentence.

“However according to information provided by the Courts Service, an individual may have perpetrated more than one offence and received a prison sentence on one offence and a suspended sentence for another offence.

“The societal rise in domestic violence is extremely worrying, not to mention the horrific physical and emotional impact it has on victims and their families and the challenges they face in the aftermath as they attempt to rebuild a life for themselves and their children in some cases.

“That is why Justice Minister Helen McEntee is committed to tackling domestic, sexual and gender based violence as a priority, and Fine Gael stand firmly behind her in this work.

“As part of delivering on the Zero Tolerance strategy, Minister McEntee is strengthening the law on domestic violence, including by increasing the penalty for assault causing harm, introducing standalone offences of non-fatal strangulation and stalking, and by progressing a new Sexual Offences Bill which will, among other things, improve supports for victims.

“Work is also continuing on implementing  ‘Supporting a Victim’s Journey,’ our plan to reform the criminal justice system at every point a victim comes into contact with it.

“I have said before and firmly believe that there must be tougher sentences for perpetrators and particularly for those who breach court orders in place to protect victims.

“Work is underway on improving services and supports for victims through all stages of their engagement with the criminal justice system, and this must extend to helping them in rebuilding their lives after their ordeal,” Deputy O’Dowd concluded.