Zero tolerance? Zero difference!
Shelter manager warns domestic violence plans for refuge don’t go far enough
ABUSERS are posing as gardaí to track down their desperate partners seeking shelter from domestic violence, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned.
And in some cases, the abusers are so manipulative they enlist the help of female friends and relatives to contact refuges on the pretext they are desperately searching for a ‘missing sister’. The grim reality of what life is like for women who have nowhere else to go but to a refuge, emerged after Justice Minister Helen McEntee this week announced plans to provide more emergency accommodation for those at risk.
The minister also pledged to establish a new State agency to help provide better facilities and services for those trying to escape domestic
‘We had husbands impersonating gardaí looking for missing women’
violence. Deirdre Berry manages Esker House in Athlone, Co. Westmeath, the only emergency refuge in the Midlands which has just enough space to provide short-term accommodation for four women and 16 children. But she says twice as many places are needed to cope with the demand for its emergency service. As a result, Esker House is seeking an expert to help advise on how it can secure enough funding from State agencies to build more accommodation on a new site. Ms Berry told the MoS: ‘We are in a bungalow since 1982 and it is not fit for purpose. ‘The house is on the side of the road so our security is limited. We have had husbands impersonating gardaí looking for someone who is missing. ‘We also have had women ringing saying their sister is missing and they would be the perpetrator’s family member or a female friend. ‘We have had perpetrators arrive here acting concerned and some have been abusive on the phone. ‘But we never disclose who is here. We have protocols. We do let the woman know that someone has been in contact. ‘Our security is limited but we don’t want women coming in feeling they are being locked up behind high walls and high gates. ‘We have had women from England stay here and we have helped women to move to England and get a refuge there because it is so dangerous for them here in Ireland.’ Ms Berry said that Minister McEntee’s plans for extra refuge places do not go far enough. She said: ‘There’s a lot of talk about new refuge units but it needs to extend beyond that. These women need wraparound services. ‘The refuge is very important for the women who are fleeing but, within the community, we need to create safe houses and give them the resources to keep their homes safe and to have more support workers. They are saying additional resources will come but there’s nothing concrete in that. It’s very important the funding reaches the frontline. We don’t know what these resources are.’
Under the plan announced by the minister, up to 72 new spaces will be provided in refuges around the country, with 10 more at existing emergency accommodation centres replaced.
Ms McEntee also insisted there are plans for refuges in the six counties – Offaly, Carlow, Roscommon, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan – which do not have any emergency accommodation for those fleeing from domestic violence.
Ms McEntee’s plan comes as Tusla published an accommodation review which sets out the number of beds needed to meet the needs of victims. The audit says ‘additional family places are required’ in some locations and accommodation provision for victims of
‘It’s stark and frightening to have to leave your home’
domestic abuse in Ireland must be improved. The Istanbul Convention says there should be one family place for every 10,000 of population, which means Ireland needs 476 family refuge places.
Based on this figure, Ireland provides less than 30%. Meanwhile, Esker House
has been given funding for a feasibility study and a tender has been issued to find an expert to carry out this review.
Ms Berry told the MoS: ‘We applied to the Leader scheme for funding to do a feasibility study to look at what service is needed, what it might look like and who will fund that service.
‘We can get calls at any time of the day or night and sometimes the woman at the other end of the phone will say, “I’m hiding, I need to get out of here now”, or sometimes they can be composed and say, “I need to get out of here – what do I need to do?”
‘When we get the calls from women saying they need to get out now we contact the guards and they go to the address and bring the woman here.
‘Sometimes they arrive with only the clothes on their backs and we give them clothes.
‘It’s very stark and frightening to think you have to leave your home and you have to meet these strangers in a strange place.’
valerie.hanley@mailonsunday.ie
If you have been affected by any of the above or need help, you can contact the Esker House 24-hour helpline on 0906 474122.
For information about local services nationwide contact Women’s Aid on 1800-341-900, Stop Domestic
Violence in Ireland on 086 869 7022 or log on to safeireland.ie