DOMESTIC ABUSE
WORRYING INCREASE IN
DOMESTIC ABUSE
An Garda Síochána is Committed to Tackling These Crimes in All of Their Forms
T
here has been a significant and worrying increase in domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in the last year, according to latest available figures. In 2022, there were at least 49,250 abuse reports received by An Garda Síochána, representing a 9% increase over the same period on 2021. Recorded incidents of coercive control have also been rising
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steadily since 2020, with a total of 481 cases recorded. There has been a 13% year-onyear increase in criminal charges brought for crimes involving an element of domestic abuse and a 6% increase in criminal charges brought for breaches of Domestic Violence Act orders.
DEFINITION An Garda Síochána define domestic abuse as “the physical,
sexual, financial, emotional or psychological abuse of one person against another who is a family member, or has been an intimate partner, regardless of gender or sexuality”. While the European Commission defines gender-based violence as violence directed against a person because of that person’s gender or affecting persons of a particular gender disproportionally, police services worldwide specify several
AMBULANCE YEARBOOK 2023
27/03/2023 14:43
