GARDA CHIEF: I’LL PROTECT WOMEN
GARDA Commissioner Drew Harris has vowed to make the protection of women and children his ‘top priority’, as new figures show how a disturbingly high number have been killed by someone close to them. As many as 225 women have died violently in Ireland since 1996 – and nine out of ten of those were killed by a man known to them, the latest research shows.
Clearly moved by the disturbing revelations, the Garda chief told a Women’s Aid conference: ‘I am here to make a difference’, particularly for ‘the women and children in this society’.
He said: ‘I have always had a personal commitment to preventing violence towards women
and violence towards the vulnerable.’ He made his comments as the domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid’s Femicide Watch report highlighted the fact that seven women had died violently this year.
The report also showed that 16 children were killed alongside their mothers since 1996, and that as many as 137 of the 225 women killed since then had been struck down in their own homes. Of the 20 cases where a woman was killed by a relative, 16 were by their sons.
Commissioner Harris said: ‘I want to reassure you of my commitment in terms of this part of policing. This is something [Domestic Violence] that I feel very strongly about. I want to make a difference, and I am here to make a difference.’
He added: ‘I know I am subject to a little curiosity as to why is this Northerner here, but one of the reasons I am here is to make a difference and make a difference in terms of protecting this society and particularly the women and children in this society.
‘If I do that over the next five years, then I will be pleased in what I have achieved here,’ the Commissioner said. He added: ‘I have always had a personal commitment to preventing violence towards women and violence towards the vulnerable.’
He said that in his own career he had increasingly seen a shift from crimes such as theft and burglary to online abuse, child sexual abuse, serious sexual assault, human trafficking, and domestic abuse including femicide.
‘All these are growing areas of concern for me as Commissioner in terms of how we combat them,’ he said.
He also noted, during a question and answer session with the audience: ‘For us, domestic abuse, preventing femicide, and preventing the murder of children is obviously a priority. What else is going to trump that in terms of priority?
‘That’s my commitment in terms of how we use our resources.’
He reaffirmed his determination to fight the growing number of women and children being murdered, when he said: ‘As a demand in respect to domestic abuse grows, we need to ensure we respond effectively and efficiently but also with empathy and professionalism to domestic violence incidents.
‘I am determined in this regard that we improve our service, because the service we improve makes a difference in terms of preventing really serious crimes up to and including femicide and murder of children; and what more important work have I or any of the staff? And this is a priority.
‘I do have influence in respect of our priorities and where our resources should be, and you can be assured I view this as a priority and a really important area for policing in Ireland.’
The gardaí are drawing up a risk assessment model to better help them evaluate incidents or threats of violence against women and children.
One domestic abuse survivor, Jessica Bowes, commended Commissioner Harris for his speech at the Women’s Aid conference.
Ms Bowes, who was almost beaten to death by her partner, said Mr Harris’s comments could be a turning point for women in Ireland.
‘I’m very confident in your abilities, and at the heart of what you do, I genuinely believe now your appointment is going to see a turning point in domestic violence and I really welcome your appointment and I look forward to seeing where you’re going to take it,’ she said.
Women’s Aid called for the introduction of formal reviews of domestic killings as a matter of ‘urgency’ to help protect women and children and save lives.
Last year the charity was contacted over 21,000 times and its 24-hour National Freephone Helpline answers 50 calls a day.
The vast majority of these contacts were disclosures of abuse against women while more than 3,500 were revelations of child abuse. And about 750 of those contacts were about men who had choked, smothered, beaten or threatened to beat their partner with a weapon.
There were also 217 reports of assault during pregnancy and 600 instances where a man told a woman that he would kill her, the children, a family member or himself.
The charity said automatic reviews should be held after all domestic killings so that we can understand what happened. This would help State agencies help women at risk at home in the future.
Women’s Aid said that without these reviews, the Government support services are unlikely to see the full pattern of male violence against women and children.
In recent weeks, Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Jim O’Callaghan submitted a Private Members’ Bill to the Dáil in a bid to address the legal loopholes around inheritance and joint assets, based on the difficulties highlighted by the Celine Cawley case.
Celine Cawley was killed by her husband Eamonn Lillis in the Dublin home they shared in 2008.
But he was still allowed to keep half of their Irish assets.
Mr Harris also told the Women’s Aid conference: ‘Unfortunately, this violence is happening in our society. It’s happening throughout our society, it’s not happening in some distant corner, and the lessons we can see and example we can see of what is happening here is replicated elsewhere in the world and we have a lot to learn from the research which is going on elsewhere.
‘The victims are people we know, as are the perpetrators. This is something that is around all of us in the society in which we live. The sad reality is that this is a growing issue for policing around the world and no less then also for An Garda Síochána,’ added the Commissioner .
Anyone seeking support at any hour of the day or night can call the Women’s Aid National24hr Freephone Helpline on 1800 341 900.
‘I am determined to make a difference’