Dublin South West Sinn Féin TD, Seán Crowe, has welcomed the introduction of the Domestic Violence Bill 2017 into the Oireachtas and said he was hopeful that the new legislation would address concerns and gaps in the current law.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“Sinn Féin has long called for improvements to the legal frameworks in place to support victims of domestic violence, particularly in relation to cohabitants and parents in crisis situations.

“We had tabled our own legislation on this matter previously and will aim to incorporate some of the more progressive and proactive ideas we had in our legislation into this Domestic Violence Bill.

“Domestic violence is one of the most heinous crimes that can be committed.  It is a crime that is often is repeated night after night for years and sometimes into decades. We often express shock and outrage about one off incidents that inflict violence on a victim – and rightly so.  But why for so long have we as a society turned a blind eye to domestic violence?

“Domestic violence impacts on children but we have no real idea of the amount of people who are now adults who have been robbed of their childhood because of this crime.

“It’s happening in our midst and we need to deliver every encouragement and support to those trapped in this awful cycle of fear and intimidation.

“Domestic violence also happens against men and I have had to try and get supports for many of them who found themselves in that awful position.”

Crowe continued:

“Sinn Féin intend to introduce a number of proactive amendments including a provision to allow for a Garda of senior rank to apply for out-of-hours barring orders from an on-call judge. This will address the current difficulty as many of these crisis situations occur when the courts are closed.

“We would also like to see that indirect forms of harassment including the posting online of harmful materials that may be in breach of a victims’ privacy are also  included as possible grounds for a safety, barring or protection orders. It is our view that stalking should also be included as grounds for applications for safety orders.

“There are many positive developments in this current legislation including the fact that it allows for a court, when making a safety order or barring order, to prohibit a perpetrator of domestic violence from communicating with the victim through electronic means. This type of intimidation has become quite common and its inclusion is welcome.

“Finally, but most importantly this legislation must be underpinned with additional resources for front line services.

“We know from recent figures that 9,448 individual women and 3,028 individual children received support and/or accommodation from a domestic violence service in 2014. Additionally 48,888 women sought helpline support and 1,658 individual women and 2,309 individual children stayed in refuges in 2014.

“Yet last year approximately 5,000 requests for refuge were refused due to the lack of accommodation and resources.

“We clearly need to see additional funding for refuges, helplines and of course training.

“These figures and all the individuals they represent should be, and needs to be, a spur to legislators to get this Bill through without any delay.”

ENDS