Guarded welcome for new domestic violence strategy

The lack of emergency refuge spaces for domestic violence victims in Offaly is expected to continue for some considerable time despite the launch this week of a wide-ranging zero-tolerance domestic violence strategy by the Government.

The €363 million plan will see the number of refuge spaces being doubled from 141 to 282 over the five-year lifespan of the strategy, which will ensure that every county can provide emergency accommodation for victims of domestic violence.

While the Manager of Offaly Domestic Violence Support Service (ODVSS), Anne Clarke, has described the plan as “extremely promising” she expressed the hope that emergency refuge spaces will be provided in Offaly “sooner rather than later” and she would like to see them being prioritised “as a matter of urgency”.

“If we get a call on a Friday evening from a man or a woman who is in need of emergency refuge the reality is that we have absolutely nowhere to send them,” she said.

The service is currently finalising plans with Offaly County Council to establish three ‘safe houses’ across the county before the end of the year, in Tullamore, Edenderry and Birr.

However, while Anne Clarke acknowledges that these houses will be most welcome, they are not suitable for domestic violence victims who are seeking emergency accommodation and whose lives are in immediate danger.

The number of client contacts that ODVSS recorded last year was up by 1,000 from the previous year, and Anne Clarke has expressed “extreme alarm” at the level and severity of the abuse being perpetrated against women and men in intimate relationships.

“The types of abuse our clients are being subjected to are getting more and more sophisticated all the time, and cases of coercive control are simply off the charts,” she stated.

The Offaly service has seen “alarming increases” over the past year in cyber bullying, stalking and other subtle forms of abuse which can leave victims feeling terrorised and isolated.

“The abuse is also getting more extreme, according to Anne Clarke, who added that they now have a sizeable number of clients who have had threats to kill made against them by intimate partners.

The lack of refuge spaces in Offaly has prompted local Independent TD, Carol Nolan, to call for funding to be made available “as a matter of urgency” to provide a purpose-built refuge facility in the county.

Speaking at the pre-launch briefing on the Government’s strategy to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, Deputy Nolan referred to the fact that there has not been “a single domestic violence refuge in Offaly for at least 25 years” within victims having to travel to either Kildare or Westmeath where services are “already under pressure to cater for women in their own areas.”

Deputy Nolan has pledged to continue to push for the provision of an emergency refuge centre in Offaly for women, children and men from all parts of the county.

Despite the absence of emergency refuge services in Offaly, the Manager of Offaly Domestic Violence Service has welcomed the “many positives” in the new five-year Government strategy, particularly the establishment of a stand-alone statutory agency under the remit of the Department of Justice.

“This is something we have been advocating for over a long number of years,” said Anne Clarke, who has also welcomed other elements of the plan, such as increased funding; the doubling of the maximum sentence for assault causing harm from five years to ten; the fact that the voices of children will be heard; the provision for specialised training for frontline workers dealing with victims of domestic violence and the fact that the strategy will be subject to an annual review.

“This strategy addresses many of the gaps that we and others have identified, and we remain hopeful that it will result in a society where domestic, sexual and gender-based violence will no longer be tolerated,” ended Anne Clarke.