Richard Boyd Barrett: condemns state failure on gender-based violence
Richard Boyd Barrett addressed the Dáil on gender-based violence, condemning government action as inadequate and highlighting alarming statistics. He argued that the state and successive governments have failed victims and that current responses actively discourage people from seeking help or justice.
The speaker cited figures in the motion to show the scale of the problem - more than half of women have suffered sexual violence either as a child or as adults, more than a third experienced that violence at the hands of a partner, one in four LGBT people have suffered abuse and violence, and 72% of LGBT people suffer verbal abuse.
He said the government is "a very very long way" from taking the actions necessary to address what he described as a shameful, horrendous and frightening situation. He criticised the minister's reference to 12 additional refuge places as a pitiful number and said the state does not send a good signal in how it treats victims.
The deputy pointed to local shortfalls, saying one county he mentioned - Don Liri - had no refuge space until very recently. He said Istanbul targets would require 48 places in that county, a recommendation had been for 24, but only 12 have been provided and those places are massively oversubscribed.
He described cases where women leaving violent homes face homelessness, were placed in emergency accommodation after being evicted from refuges, and stressed there is no prioritisation for women suffering domestic violence when they need refuge. He said such failures undermine confidence in state support.
He warned that low levels of victims taking cases are linked to policies on counselling notes, arguing that if therapeutic notes could be handed over and made public it becomes an active disincentive to seek therapy or to pursue justice after trauma. He urged action to remove barriers to counselling and legal redress.
He referenced the Natasha O'Brien case as illustrative - a 24-year-old woman who intervened against homophobic abuse, was violently assaulted in public and then had to fight for a proper state response - using that incident to sum up broader failures.
Key statistics presented
The speaker cited figures in the motion to show the scale of the problem - more than half of women have suffered sexual violence either as a child or as adults, more than a third experienced that violence at the hands of a partner, one in four LGBT people have suffered abuse and violence, and 72% of LGBT people suffer verbal abuse.
Critique of government response
He said the government is "a very very long way" from taking the actions necessary to address what he described as a shameful, horrendous and frightening situation. He criticised the minister's reference to 12 additional refuge places as a pitiful number and said the state does not send a good signal in how it treats victims.
Refuge provision and local example
The deputy pointed to local shortfalls, saying one county he mentioned - Don Liri - had no refuge space until very recently. He said Istanbul targets would require 48 places in that county, a recommendation had been for 24, but only 12 have been provided and those places are massively oversubscribed.
Consequences for victims
He described cases where women leaving violent homes face homelessness, were placed in emergency accommodation after being evicted from refuges, and stressed there is no prioritisation for women suffering domestic violence when they need refuge. He said such failures undermine confidence in state support.
Counselling notes and access to justice
He warned that low levels of victims taking cases are linked to policies on counselling notes, arguing that if therapeutic notes could be handed over and made public it becomes an active disincentive to seek therapy or to pursue justice after trauma. He urged action to remove barriers to counselling and legal redress.
High-profile example cited
He referenced the Natasha O'Brien case as illustrative - a 24-year-old woman who intervened against homophobic abuse, was violently assaulted in public and then had to fight for a proper state response - using that incident to sum up broader failures.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Other speeches
Tego samego dnia All speeches from this day →
Gerard P. Craughwell
Gerard P. Craughwell warns on triple lock and Search and Rescue safety
Victor Boyhan
Victor Boyhan demands rollout timetable for Planning and Development Act
George Lawlor
George Lawlor: Urges More Women's Refuges and Privacy in Trials
Mattie McGrath
Mattie McGrath urges temporary extension of hedge-cutting season
Rose Conway-Walsh
Rose Conway-Walsh: Condemns State Inaction on Violence Against Women
Mattie McGrath
Mattie McGrath Condemns Hospital Discharge of 90-Year-Old Friend
Transcript
can I thank Deputy Coffinger for putting forward this motion as well and can I pay tribute as others have to those in the public gallery who for coming here today and for having the courage to speak up and to advocate and to campaign on this issue and your presence is hugely important because if you listen to the government and if you listen to the contributions here you might think that there is a very clear determination to address the scourge of gender-based violence but the facts that have been outlined in the motion and repeated by some of our contributors here suggest we are a very very long way and the government is a very very long way from taking the actions necessary to address this shameful horrendous frightening situation and that's what that's what these figures are the fact that more than half of women have suffered sexual violence either as a child or as adults is absolutely shocking that more than a third of them have suffered that violence at the hands of a partner is absolutely horrendous and frightening the fact that one in four LGBT people have suffered abuse and violence and that 72% of LGBT people suffer verbal abuse is horrendous the Natasha O'Brien case I mean to me just in one case I summed it all up that a 24 year old woman walking down the street who intervenes on behalf of somebody who is being subjected to homophobic abuse then herself gets violently assaulted in public by somebody who does it in a way where they think it's acceptable and then has to fight for some kind of justice in terms of the response to the response to the state to this that horrendous that horrendous situation and I hear others referring to other cultures and so on and you often hear that about it and rightly so in some cases about the treatment of women but these statistics are some of the worst in Europe and testify to the failure of successive governments and our society to deal with an absolutely toxic poisonous dangerous criminal violence against women LGBT people and people based on their gender it is absolutely horrendous and the state doesn't exactly send out a good signal in terms of the way we deal with people who have been victims of that violence has been referred to by others I heard the minister sort of boasting about the 12 additional refuge places a pitiful number last year 12 extra against a background where we are not even close to meeting the Istanbul targets I suspect those 12 could be in Don Liri right down my area which is one of the counties that hasn't had refuge space at all up until very very recently and where Istanbul would require just in that county 48 places there was a recommendation for 24 but what we've actually got is 12 and of course they are oversubscribed massively oversubscribed there's no prioritization for women suffering domestic violence when they have to leave their home and find themselves homeless and I've even had cases of women who went into a refuge and were then evicted from the refuge after a number of months and put into emergency accommodation if that's the sort of signal the state sends out about how much it cares about the victims of this violence it hardly sends a good signal about the seriousness of the state to deal with it. I just want to deal briefly with the issue of the counts of the notes on the counselling sessions and just one observation on top of the other ones if we do not do something about this and we look at the low levels of people taking cases are these two things not connected a tiny number of victims of gender-based violence actually go to the state in order to seek justice it's precisely because of things like that why would you if the notes that could be used in counselling and therapy could then be handed over to the victim and made public it's an active disincentive to seek justice or indeed to seek the therapy you need after the traumatizing experience of being a victim of such violence. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup.