Majority of murders now a result of abuse at home
DOMESTIC violence survivors have called for urgent action after new Garda figures found the majority of murders last year were motivated by relationship abuse.
Data from the Garda PULSE system shows that murders overall have fallen over time, but the proportion of those with a domestic abuse motivation represented the majority of murders (52 per cent) for the first time in 2021.
It also revealed an increase of 399 per cent in domestic abuse motivations for sexual offences from 2020 to 2021, though gardai say this is because the methodology of analysing such cases has changed.
The number of sexual assaults has increased and the majority of victims, 80 per cent, were females.
Meanwhile, attempts or threats to murder, including assaults, harassments and related offences increased over time and 57 pe cent of victims were male while 43 per cent were females.
Sara Parson, principal officer with the Garda Analyis Service, described the report as a “milestone”.
She said the analysis looked at the long-term view of trends from 2013 to 2021, with particular focus between 2019 and 2021.
Gardaí receive on average of between 120 to 150 reports of domestic abuse per day, with over 37,400 so far this year.
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