NEWS
Making Ireland safer for women, Irish Times, 24 November 2006

ireland.com - The Irish Times - Fri, Nov 24, 2006 - We must make Ireland a safer country for women

Some women are more at risk of domestic violence because the legal system here has failed to keep pace with changing lifestyles, writes Margaret Martin .
One hundred and twenty-five women have been murdered in Ireland over the past 10 years, 80 of them in their homes. Today outside the Dáil, we will remember them.
Against the backdrop of a giant in memoriam card, each murdered woman will be represented by a silhouetted, framed and dated photograph. Each represents a woman whose life was taken by someone else. All were someone's daughter; many were mothers; some were sisters; some were wives or girlfriends.
We would like to think that these were women who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, more than 80 per cent were murdered by someone they knew.
Indeed, recent research indicates that domestic violence was the strongest and most consistent risk factor for intimate partner homicide.
Nearly 50 per cent of all resolved cases of female homicide were committed by the husband, ex-husband, partner or ex-partner.
This involved cases where the perpetrator had been charged and found guilty, according to Women's Aid Female Homicide Watch.
The seriousness of the levels of violence against women in Ireland today and the failure of the legal system to keep women safe cannot be overemphasised.
The 1996 Domestic Violence Act falls short in a number of significant areas, leaving many victims of domestic violence unable to access protection in the civil courts.
Women's Aid, the Law Society, the Law Reform Commission, the Government Task Force on Violence against Women and Amnesty Ireland have all called for the Act to be amended, but to no avail. Research commissioned by Women's Aid in 1999 indicated that between 92 per cent and 97 per cent of applicants for protective orders were female.
Eighty-seven per cent of barring-order applications were made by either a spouse or a cohabitee.
Cohabiting is on the increase among Irish couples. It is crucial, therefore, that legislation responds to the needs of cohabitees as well as married couples.
The 1996 Act, however, places a number of conditions on cohabitees wishing to apply for protective orders.
The inclusion of these restrictions has been criticised by the Law Society and groups advocating for victims of domestic violence.
Where a cohabitee wishes to apply for a barring order, two key conditions must be satisfied: the applicant must have lived with the respondent for six of the previous nine months in aggregate. They must be able to prove an equal or greater interest in the property. To apply for a safety order, the applicant must have lived with the respondent for six of the previous 12 months in aggregate.
These restrictions have prevented many women from accessing protection. Sarah, which is not her real name, experienced serious levels of physical, sexual and psychological abuse at the hands of her partner.
During their relationship, she had been hospitalised due to injuries sustained and she was forced to flee with her three children to a refuge on several occasions.
Sarah's partner left the family home in order to avoid an arrest warrant for assault. She has not seen him in several months but has received threatening calls from him warning her that he will be back. Sarah is not entitled to apply for a barring order as she has not lived with her partner for six of the previous nine months. She lives in fear of her life.

There are significant numbers of migrant women coming to Ireland as the dependent spouses of migrant workers. The immigration status of these women is insecure and wholly dependent on their continued relationship with their spouse.
This causes many women to remain trapped in relationships where they have to endure significant levels of sexual and physical violence.
Natalia, which is also a pseudonym, came to Ireland from Russia to join her husband as a dependant on his work visa. Natalia has been subjected to physical, sexual and emotional abuse by him since they got married.
One evening in 2004 Natalia's husband threatened to kill her. She fled from the house and went to a friend's house where she stayed for a while. She then reported the violence to the Garda Síochána but as she was no longer living with her husband, her right to reside in Ireland was in jeopardy and she was advised to contact the Department of Justice regarding the change in her situation. Women's Aid supported Natalia's application to the District Court for a safety order and maintenance and we are awaiting a decision from the Department of Justice as to whether she can stay in this country.

The Minister for Justice should amend the Domestic Violence Act in line with proposals from the Law Society, the Law Reform Commission and Women's Aid. As we remember the 125 women whose lives were cut short, we call on the Government to make Ireland a safer country for women.
Margaret Martin is director of Women's Aid

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