Over 43,000 domestic abuse calls made in 2020

DOMESTIC abuse emergency calls increased by 17% during the pandemic with gardaí receiving over 43,000 cries for help in 2020.

From these, more than 7,600 criminal charges were brought against alleged offenders, a 24% increase from 2019, according to the Garda’s annual policing report. Another 4,000 criminal charges were brought for breaches of Domestic Violence Act orders, again up 24% on 2019.

In total, there were 43,500 domestic violence-related calls to gardaí, a 17% increase on 2019, while 12,000 domestic violence orders were issued.

However, the actual number of victims is likely to be even higher due to a widespread practice of cancelling and misclassifying 999 calls within the force.

In June it emerged that more than 2,000 emergency calls were cancelled for ‘invalid’ reasons, and despite commitments made to stop the practice, the Policing Authority believes the issue is still prevalent.

Sarah Benson of Women’s Aid said she was not surprised by the

‘It’s good to see proactive measures’

new figures considering her organisation’s helpline recorded 43% more calls during Covid-19 restrictions compared to the year before. On RTÉ’s News at One, she said the easing of restrictions had not led to a drop in demand for services, and that face-to-face services are seeing a rise in demand.

She added: ‘Gardaí did make domestic violence and abuse a policing priority [during the pandemic] and made in excess of 20,000 calls to known households where there was known or suspected domestic violence. We only see the tip of the iceberg, but it’s good to see these proactive measures being done.’

The Garda report also revealed that 75 assassinations have been thwarted since 2016.

Gardaí said that activities of organised crime groups remained a priority in 2020 to ensure they did not take full advantage of the pandemic.

The number of gardaí last year also reached its highest figure in the history of the State, at 14,491.

Under Operation Thor, a 42% decrease in residential break-ins since 2015 was reported, as well as a 33% reduction in nondomestic burglaries.