WORRYING INCREASE IN ABUSE

There has been a signi cant and worrying increase in domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in the last year, according to latest available gures.

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 steadily since 2020, with a total of 481 cases recorded. ere 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 de ne domestic abuse as “the physical, sexual, nancial, 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 de nes gender-based violence as violence directed against a person because of that person’s gender or a ecting persons of a particular gender disproportionally, police services worldwide specify several forms of gender-based violence. ese include psychological violence, stalking, physical violence, sexual violence (including rape), forced marriage, female genital mutilation, forced abortion or sterilisation, and sexual harassment.

Actions

As these cases of domestic violence increase, An Garda Síochána has not only continued to treat all instances of domestic abuse as a priority under Operation Faoiseamh, but also introduced a number of measures including Divisional Protective Services Units, a strong focus on call-backs to victims, and increased training for gardaí in this speci c area.

To date, more than 90% of gardaí have completed coercive controlspeci c training, and the Risk Evaluation Tool that assesses the risk posed to a domestic violence victim by the perpetrator when responding to cases, is now operational in three of four Garda regions.

Speaking towards the end of 2022 about the gures, Detective Chief Superintendent Colm Noonan of the Garda National Protective Services Unit, said: “An Garda Síochána is unwavering in our commitment to supporting victims of domestic, sexual and genderbased violence, and investigating and prosecuting o enders.

“We are focused on a number of operational areas that we believe will enhance how individual gardaí respond to victims of incidents of domestic abuse to ensure that no matter where a person lives, the service and protection they receive from An Garda Síochána will be of a consistently high standard.

“By fully exposing these crimes, as well as constantly improving our policing response and wider policies, we can help reduce the prevalence of domestic abuse in our society.”

Later speaking on national radio, Detective Chief Superintendent Noonan said An Garda are working with the Justice Department on a national strategy for this particular area of crime.

Challenges

On the back of news that an internal Garda investigation revealed that more than 3,000 domestic abuse calls to gardaí had been cancelled in recent years, he said: “It is something we are working hard to resolve, it has been the subject of a review and we are engaged with the Policing Authority on it,” adding that they had identi ed the reasons why the majority of those calls had been cancelled.

in need of protective services are quick to point out that this is a worrying upward trend.

Safe Ireland noted that while the statistics show a 10% increase on the previous year, this represents an almost 60% increase since 2017, which they describe as “a grave concern”.

CEO of Safe Ireland, Mary McDermott says actions taken by gardaí have helped stop this trend from rising even further.

“Whilst there are issues to be addressed regarding policing, Operation Faoiseamh has been extremely successful and Safe Ireland would like to see the operation mainstreamed and fully resourced,” she said. “ e most recent data provides a strong evidence base for this.”

Sarah Benson, CEO of Women’s Aid, also said Operation Faoiseamh was a “very proactive and public statement to anyone in need of support of An Garda Síochána”.

Pointing out that domestic abuse is one of the most common crimes that gardaí are called to respond to, she welcomes the “continuing commitment” to focus on domestic abuse made by An Garda Síochána.

He also con rmed that Divisional Protective Services Units are now established in every Garda Division, with the latest gures showing that 392 members have been assigned to these units on a full-time basis.

Commitment

Of course, the number of recorded cases of domestic abuse gardaí respond to is not the full picture relating to this crime because not all victims come forward or report incidents, but even with the gures on hand, organisations helping those

“We acknowledge that there is a very strong and robust domestic violence policy within An Garda Síochána,” she said. “What we hope is that all members will be given adequate training support to ensure that they respond in accordance with that policy.”

Personnel assigned to Divisional Protective Service Units are provided with bespoke training in handling domestic violence cases, and during 2020/2021, on top of the 90% of Garda personnel who completed the training in coercive control, more than 80% also completed a Domestic Abuse Online eLearning Programme.