Ireland doubles criminal penalties for domestic violence in 10 years under a € 360 million plan to end domestic violence, sexual violence and gender-based violence, doubling the number of shelters I plan to double it.
Justice Minister Helen McKenty will bring to the Cabinet today a third national strategy on domestic violence, sexual violence and gender-based violence (DSGBV).
Strategies that pledge “zero tolerance” to violence against women and domestic violence are expected to be announced later today.
Under a five-year plan, the state will amend the criminal law to increase the general criminal penalties used by domestic violent and sexual predators.
The maximum sentence for harm-causing assault, which the Justice Department said is one of the most common crimes in domestic abuse cases, will be doubled from five to ten years.
Ireland will also double the number of domestic violence refugee spaces from 141 to at least 280.
It is understood that this includes the creation of shelters in North, Central, South, Athlone, Balbriggan, Dun Laoghaire Down, Sligo, Longford, Cavan and Monaghan in Cork.
More evacuation space is targeted at currently empty counties, and services are provided through local governments or local frontline domestic violence NGOs.
And for the first time, the Housing Department will provide ring-fenced funding to accommodations in shelters for domestic violence.
But even after increasing the number of refugee spaces in the country by at least 139, at the end of the 2027 strategy, the state still has more than 500 spaces required under the Istanbul Convention, a European-wide law. It is below. A device that commits state to the end of DSGBV.
A study conducted last year found that Irish refugees were twice as likely to have to separate women as they could accept them and perhaps her children. Currently, there are no domestic violent refugees for men in Ireland.
This strategy will also enable the creation of a national institution dedicated to domestic violence, sexual violence and gender-based violence by January 2024. Responsible for providing shelter and working with 60 different NGOs providing frontline rape and domestic violence services.
Each year, we work closely with the Justice Department prior to budgeting and insist on funding frontline services.
Tusla, a child and family agency, is not responsible for DSGBV.
The third national strategy includes more than 140 actions. This is a government-wide response to violence against women, including sectors such as education, higher education, health, housing, transportation, defense and culture.
It is designed to challenge the social attitudes that underpin domestic and gender-based violence.
It also seeks to raise awareness of issues such as domestic violence, and front-line healthcare professionals are trained on how to stop victims of domestic violence.