Statements on Domestic Violence – 30th March 2010
Senator David Norris: I also welcome the Minister of State. I was unusual in welcoming the Cabinet reshuffle and the general Government move. I specified this development. The separation of equality issues from the Department of Justice, Equality of Law Reform in a new arrangement between the current Minister and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Pat Carey, is welcome news and must be positive, although it is a pity the issue of domestic violence still appears to fall principally under the remit of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
Clear issues are to be addressed, one of which I read about this morning and has already been raised in the House, namely, a Down’s syndrome child who was raped and prevented from giving evidence by the judge because he believed that, under outdated legislation, she lacked the capacity. This matter must be re-examined, as it was a serious and horrifying case. Yesterday, I spent a very pleasant 20 minutes interviewing Mr. Frank Crummey, who was one of the founders of the Irish Family Planning Association. In the early 1960s when talking about violence against Children on “The Late Late Show”, he said, “As we sit here in this studio, children are being abused by the Christian Brothers.” I can put a variation on that statement. As we speak, domestic violence is being practised, predominantly by men against women. That should not obviate an interest in violence against men, either by other men or by women. The facts are quite clear. The issue is the violence and not the gender. However, the gender appears to be a determining factor in the majority of cases.
I regret that the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is still so directly involved. The Minister of Statesaid the strategy oversight committee to implement the report by Cosc is chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr. Seán Aylward, and will meet twice yearly and report progress to the group of Secretaries General and to the Government. I do not know Mr. Aylward and I have nothing against him. However, this is an internal group, which is exactly what the Equal Rights Alliance and many others warned against. It will tend not to be critical of Government policy. That is a serious flaw. The committee should report, not to Secretaries General and the Government, but directly to the Oireachtas so we can discuss these issues and make recommendations. I ask the Minister of State to give us an undertaking that the report will be made to the Oireachtas. Once again, the Oireachtas is being bypassed and that is not a good idea.
The Cosc report is a very odd sort of document. It is full of sentimental twaddle and waffle as well as some reasonably good and specific suggestions. It is an extraordinary mixture. The Cosc press release states, “We have a plan!” The report talks about “your wonderful help and advice” and goes on to bleat about thanking Cosc’s partners for the wonderful this, that and the other. It is not professional. There is a mixture of authorship, in my opinion. The report would be strengthened by being independent.
The national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender based violence, which was published in February 2009 after a number of consultations, huddles, chats and so on, is supposed to be implemented by the Government. I hope the suggestions made in the strategy will be implemented.
I would embark on a slightly broader definition of domestic violence than some of the earlier speakers, one of whom suggested it was confined entirely to physical violence. Psychological violence can be equally damaging, particularly over a long period. Two definitions are useful. The first comes from the report of the task force on violence against women published by the Office of the Tánaiste in 1997, which states:
Domestic violence refers to the use of physical or emotional force or threat of physical force, including sexual violence, in close adult relationships. The term domestic violence goes beyond actual physical violence. It can also involve: emotional abuse; the destruction of property; isolation from friends, family and other sources of support; threats to others, including children; stalking; and control over access to money, personal items, food, transportation and the telephone.
That is a very useful definition. If one analyses it and applies it to the situation one finds that the policies of successive Governments, including the current one, have made the situation worse. I will give some instances of this. I do not attack any particular party or Government. I simply say this is the impact of the policies of successive Governments of various complexions.
The second definition is an international one from the World Health Organisation. It is cited by Ellsberg and Heise in their thesis of 2005:
Violence against women encompasses but is not limited to physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, and the sexual abuse of female children in the household.
I do not know why it should be confined to female children. There are plenty of examples of violence against male children. Recently we heard of a case of both parents who were sexually molesting their children. I object in the strongest possible terms to newspapers such as The Irish Times referring to groups like the Iona Institute as pro-family. They stupidly let similar kinds of groups get away with the tag pro-life, which puts the rest of us into the pro-death camp. Whether the Iona Institute is pro-family, I most certainly am. I am a member of a family. I did not come down the hot tap in the bath; I am part of the family. These groups, which call themselves Christian, should read the Gospels where, for example, Jesus Christ was attacked by the Pharisees because he ground an ear of corn between His fingers and was told he was working on the Sabbath. He said that “Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath”. We should beware of idolising institutions like marriage even when they operate against the interests of individuals, particularly the children contained in them. I am part of the family. I am very pro-family. I am also a bit picky about the families I support. I would not, particularly, support families in which incest was a natural part of the daily routine. I do not think they deserve my support.
One in five women in Ireland has experienced domestic violence by a partner or ex-partner. Some 162 women were murdered since 1996, some quite recently. That is an astonishing statistic. There have been 215,000 incidents of domestic violence reported to Women’s Aid. One in eight women surveyed in a Dublin maternity hospital had experienced domestic violence during pregnancy. One in four perpetrators against adult women are partners or ex-partners. There has been only one conviction for marital rape since the introduction of legislation 20 years ago. Marital rape is a comparatively frequent phenomenon but no one is held to account for it. The situation is roughly similar internationally.
I have mentioned the Equal Rights Alliance and I pay tribute to them. When the Government decided, in the teeth of an economic storm, systematically to dismantle every organisation that was speaking out for the vulnerable, including the poor, women, gay people and others, the Equal Rights Alliance held the fort. I also thank God for the Green Party.
Senator Niall Ó Brolcháin: Good for Senator Norris.
Senator David Norris: The Green Party, the Minister of State and the other Green members of the Government made sure the damage was as limited as possible and they fought to reverse it. Part of that reversal has landed the Minister of State in the House tonight.
Women are in this wonderful situation where they are a minority although they are 51% of the population. I am not good at arithmetic but even I can see there is something a little suspicious about that. I pay tribute to my colleague, Senator Ivana Bacik, who has drawn these circumstances to our attention. Some 4% of Irish women have executive positions in Irish business and women earn 14% less than men. Women graduates, such as our voters, earn 11% less than men so they are 3% better off. Some 23% of women have incomes which put them in a poverty situation. I could go on. These statistics show there is a structural discrimination against women.
The question of legislation was not addressed in the Minister of State’s speech. Domestic violence is not named or statutorily defined as a crime in legislation. The Domestic Violence Act 1996 does not define or name domestic violence. It refers to assault. The Cosc report recommends that a definition of domestic violence be included in legislation and that it should incorporate both physical and psychological abuse because abuse other than physical can be more damaging. Let us have some action and accountability. If even this weak report recommends this measure I would like to see it done.
I read with immense interest a wonderful thesis by Ms Paula Fagan. I do not know who she is but she writes very incisively. Her research is on the provision of services to migrant women in Ireland. We have had a huge increase in the number of migrant women. For most of my lifetime Ireland was a totally homogenous society. That has changed and fractured and there has been a particular growth in female immigration. These women are particularly vulnerable because of their marginal status in society. Structural barriers for migrant women include immigration status, racism, lack of language and culturally inappropriate support. These can have a really serious effect. Ms Fagan’s thesis depends on information culled from a series of sources.
Senator David Norris: The Green Party, the Minister of State and the other Green members of the Government made sure the damage was as limited as possible and they fought to reverse it. Part of that reversal has landed the Minister of State in the House tonight.
Women are in this wonderful situation where they are a minority although they are 51% of the population. I am not good at arithmetic but even I can see there is something a little suspicious about that. I pay tribute to my colleague, Senator Ivana Bacik, who has drawn these circumstances to our attention. Some 4% of Irish women have executive positions in Irish business and women earn 14% less than men. Women graduates, such as our voters, earn 11% less than men so they are 3% better off. Some 23% of women have incomes which put them in a poverty situation. I could go on. These statistics show there is a structural discrimination against women.
The question of legislation was not addressed in the Minister of State’s speech. Domestic violence is not named or statutorily defined as a crime in legislation. The Domestic Violence Act 1996 does not define or name domestic violence. It refers to assault. The Cosc report recommends that a definition of domestic violence be included in legislation and that it should incorporate both physical and psychological abuse because abuse other than physical can be more damaging. Let us have some action and accountability. If even this weak report recommends this measure I would like to see it done.
I read with immense interest a wonderful thesis by Ms Paula Fagan. I do not know who she is but she writes very incisively. Her research is on the provision of services to migrant women in Ireland. We have had a huge increase in the number of migrant women in this country. For most of my lifetime Ireland was a totally homogenous society. That has changed and fractured and there has been a particular growth in female immigration. These women are particularly vulnerable because of their marginal status in society. Structural barriers for migrant women include immigration status, racism, lack of language and culturally inappropriate support. These can have a really serious effect. Ms Fagan’s thesis depends on information culled from a series of sources. There are six - Longford Women’s Link, Longford; Meath Women’s Refuge, Navan; Rathmines Refuge, Dublin, for which I remember performing a Joyce one-man show as a fundraiser about 25 years ago; WAVES, Sligo; Women’s Aid, Dublin and Women’s Aid, Dundalk. It is clear from all of this evidence that women are vulnerable within marriage and other domestic partnership arrangements.
On the barriers and difficulties faced by migrant women, the first is our immigration legislation. We are promised immigration and nationalisation legislation which I have read and it stinks. It one of the most corrupt pieces of legislation I have ever come across and it stinks on a constitutional and legal basis. I attended a series of briefings by senior legal people - solicitors and, in particular, barristers - and was so impressed by them that I brought them to the AV room to talk to my colleagues. I hope their concerns will be taken on board.
Immigration legislation impacts greatly on the lives and choices of migrant women, increasing their physical vulnerability and distress in situations of domestic violence and severely curtailing their options. That is a stark fact to face. Our legislation exposes them to physical danger. Individual women face the restriction on public funds through social welfare restrictions. Restriction of services as a result of underfunding limits women’s choices and curtails the development of appropriate responses. They often face both racism in wider society and cultural attitudes within their own community. There is an attitude, not only on the part of the Government in this respect - it is a broad phenomenon. A United Kingdom study states that with the focus on abuses by asylum seekers rather than abuses against them, successive governments have justified the introduction of measures to reduce the duties they have to immigrants and asylum seekers, reducing the amount of money and services, inlcuding housing, available to them. That is evident both here and in the United Kingdom.
There is the question of deportation. I spoke outside the House at lunchtime to a group, Residents against Racism, of which I know the Minister of State is aware. There have been many such cases, including the case of Pamela Izevbekhai and that of the five year old girl with sickle cell anaemia who had to have her spleen removed. Thank God for that wonderful Irish female consultant who stood up against the bureaucracy and insisted that the girl not be returned to Nigeria where she would have faced certain death. Having had her spleen removed and having sickle cell anaemia, if she had to move to live in a malarial area, undoubtedly she would have died, yet faceless bureaucrats were prepared to contemplate this possibility very easily and comfortably.
There is the question of social welfare restrictions. Migrant women are denied access to affordable housing, which is a real problem. In 1999 the then United Kingdom Government introduced the domestic violence concession, under which women who are subject to domestic violence are allowed to claim residence. Have we done this here? No, we have not. Has the COSC avoided the issue? Yes, it has. We should introduce such a measure.
There is the question of undocumented women, women who are trafficked in the country for sexual purposes and who are even more vulnerable. Our immigration policy has been focused primarily on economic interests. That is why we do not give the women involved a degree of permanency. We take from them any support that is available. For example, rent allowance has been taken from them, which is a disgrace. We must make sure we make such provision.
All of the groups have joined together to state these measures should be introduced. Measures should be put in place to ensure all migrant women, documented or undocumented, and children who experience domestic violence whose immigration status is dependent on their spouse should be given temporary leave to remain. All migrant women and children in this situation should be automatically deemed compliant with the habitual residency condition. They should be given the right to work and support should be provided in situations of domestic violence. This is an opportunity to make such provision because the Government’s policy leaves women exposed. They are often dependent on their husbands for financial support, which makes them vulnerable, unless the State moves in to assist them. We have a good and idealistic Minister of State and also a party in government which has some access to the decent elements in Fianna Fáil. We should use them and address these real issues, not just the blather contained in the COSC report.
Senator Ivana Bacik: Hear, hear.