Domestic violence cases soar past peak reached in lockdown
A RECORD number of domestic abuse cases are being reported across the country – with gardaí called to more incidents than they were during lockdown, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
New figures confirmed the number of domestic violence cases reported to gardaí rose by 30% last year compared to 2019, before the pandemic hit. The number of domestic abuse cases was expected to significantly rise during the pandemic as many victims found themselves locked up with their abusers for weeks at a time.
However, latest figures show the alarming jump in reported cases has continued to rise this year – with gardaí now fielding more than 1,000 calls a week relating to domestic abuse.
In 2019, a total of 38,143 calls reporting domestic abuse were made to Garda stations across the country.
This figure jumped to 49,313 in 2021. And new figures confirmed by Justice Minister Helen McEntee confirm gardaí recorded a total of 29,147 domestic abuse calls in just under seven months between January and July 25 this year.
The figures were released in response to parliamentary queries from Aontú
‘This is the tip of the iceberg as so many aren’t reported’
leader Peader Tóibín, who warned of the ‘tsunami’ of reported cases since the pandemic is likely only the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of actual domestic abuse cases.
Mr Tóibín told the MoS: ‘The figures are shocking. Gardaí were called out just under 50,000 times in the State in 2021. This is an increase in 11,000 Garda callouts in two years over the 2019 figures – an increase of just under 30%.
‘And – most worryingly – so far in 2022 the figures are continuing to increase. And these are no doubt the tip of the iceberg as so much domestic abuse goes unreported.’
Earlier this year, Ms McEntee unveiled a series of legislative reforms as part of a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to domestic abuse.
However, Mr Tóibín said the scale of cases highlighted in the figures shows far more needs to be done to tackle the underlying causes.
The TD added: ‘As a society we are not analysing or dealing with these shocking changes adequately at all. The Minister for Justice and the Government are not properly focused on the causes of crime or tackling it in terms of resources, solutions, and sentences.
‘These horrendous figures reveal how Irish society is becoming a more dangerous and violent place for many. And they firmly contradict our image of ourselves as a progressive and tolerant society.’
The offences include breaches of barring, protection and safety orders, family disputes, violence and sexual assault.
The new figures also provide the first detailed breakdown of domestic abuse reports made in every Garda district across the country last year.
The highest increase was recorded in Sligo-Leitrim, where reported domestic abuse cases soared from 652 in 2019 to 1,073 last year, a rise of 64%.
In Wexford the numbers rose from 915 to 1,481, an increase of 61%, followed by Kilkenny-Carlow, where calls jumped from 756 to 1,188, a rise of 57%.
Every Garda district in the country recorded significant increases in domestic abuse reports during the pandemic.
The lowest was in Wicklow, which recorded a rise from 944 to 1,009 between 2019 and last year.
Responding to the huge rise of abuse cases recorded in some districts, Mr Tóibín said ‘many counties experienced incredible spikes in domestic violence’.
He said the Government – which ordered some of the harshest Covid restrictions in the EU – had to accept some ‘responsibility for this increase’.
He added: ‘Ireland was an outlier in terms of the length and severity of the lockdowns. There is no doubt that this played a significant role in the spike in domestic violence over the last number of years.
‘Yet Government still refuses to properly analyse the impacts of their actions. Little will be learnt and no one will be held to account for an enormous toll that was inflicted on so many people.’
Priscilla Grainger, founder of Stop Domestic Violence in Ireland (SDVII), a frontline support group that helps victims to escape their abusers, said the new figures are ‘shocking’ but reflect what they are experiencing at the coalface.
She called on the Government to introduce emergency legislation to protect victims, saying domestic violence levels are ‘out of control’.
Ms Grainger told the MoS: ‘the Minister [McEntee] has been extremely proactive in terms of legislative reforms relating to domestic abuse but these figures starkly illustrate what we’ve been saying for some time – that the problem has now become completely out of hand.
‘Unless something drastic is done more domestic abuse victims will become murder statistics.’
Women’s Aid was contacted for comment.
Responding to the figures, Minister McEntee acknowledged the rise in domestic abuse cases.
She told the MoS: ‘It’s definitely the case that there has been an increase in incidents, but we need to make sure that people actually report these incidents.
‘Yes, we need to focus on prevention, education, providing the supports. But we also need to make sure people are coming forward.’
Ms McEntee accepted the figures highlight ‘the problem that is and has always been there and highlights how much we still need to do.
We need to look at it in the balance. The more people that come forward the better’.
And she added: ‘We need general data. That’s where the likes for new sexual prevalence study, domestic violence prevalence study that we’ll be doing on a five-year basis, it’s that type of data and information [that is needed] to actually understand the overall figures.’
The rising domestic abuse figures come as an independent review into the cancellation of 999 calls made to gardaí this week found there were several instances of ‘substantial shortcoming’ in the handling of calls.
Ms McEntee said she couldn’t guarantee more 999 calls won’t be cancelled and admitted the number of supervisors working in Garda call centres needs to be increased.
‘Victims will become murder statistics’