I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I am pleased to have an opportunity to address this very important issue. Violence against women is a violation of women's human rights which occurs across all economic, social and cultural divides. It causes serious physical and psychological damage both to women and children and it is a huge social problem. Physical, sexual and mental abuse of women and children in their own homes is totally unacceptable. However, that message is only beginning to become part of the public agenda in terms of social concerns.
In 1995 women in Ireland who are abused still face a huge battle against inadequate refuge space and a huge lack of services when they are trying to leave an abusive partner. There is still a huge level of misinformation and acceptance of violence against women and children in society. We need to create a type of society which will enable women to speak out in safety about the horrific assaults which they have endured in the privacy of their own homes.
The Minister of State, Deputy Currie, was at the launch on Tuesday of Zero Tolerance — A National Strategy on Eliminating Violence against Women which was prepared by Women's Aid. At that conference he talked about the fact that he had a role in the Departments of Health, Justice and Education and that all of these Departments were involved in bringing about changes and in implementing a strategy to bring about an end to domestic violence.
The situation of refuges throughout the country is totally unacceptable. There are only 16 family refuge places in Dublin and only 79 nationwide. When we discuss cases such as the Kilkenny incest case and the case of the west of Ireland farmer, many people tend to blame the women and ask why they did not leave the home to protect the children. However, where could these women go? For example, in my constituency of Laois-Offaly there is no hostel or refuge for women and children who are victims of domestic violence. Expecting them to move out of the family home with no place to go is not an option.
There is an information and advice centre for women who are victims of domestic violence in Dublin, but there are no such centres throughout the country. Many women are economically dependent on their partners and do not have financial independence. They are afraid of moving out into situations of poverty and many are willing to accept physical abuse in order to keep their children with them. They stay in the family home because they are frightened of the consequences if they leave. It would be very helpful if there were information and advice centres throughout the country which would tell them about their legal rights and entitlements if they left the family home.
We do not have statistics on domestic violence in this country, but if we look around we can see the huge number of women and children living in situations of domestic violence. For example, the Women's Aid helpline, which was set up in March 1992, has received almost 18,000 calls from women who were physically, sexually or mentally abused by men. The special domestic violence and sexual assault unit which was set up by the Garda in the Dublin Metropolitan Area received 5,000 calls in one four month period last year. International research has shown that only between 10 and 15 per cent of women report assault to the police. If 5,000 calls were made to the domestic violence and sexual assault unit in a four month period, and that is taken to represent only 10 to 15 per cent of all assaults, the figure is absolutely frightening.
Womens' Aid were involved in a pilot study in St. James's Hospital in 1993 for which they examined 83 women admitted to that unit as a result of assault by a partner or a spouse. The injuries these women received were horrifying. Some 26 fractures were documented, there were 40 cases of blows to the head, multiple bruising, lacerations and attempted strangulations. These are the results of a pilot study in just one hospital in Dublin. It was shown that pregnant women living with abusive partners are also abused during the pregnancy. This shows that we must work towards a national strategy to combat domestic violence against both men and women.
We must look at areas such as male power in the public and the private world. We need to increase finances to refuges and to improve the standards and staff training in refuges, but we also need to give women access to information and support. We need to support women and help them to make decisions which will affect their future if they move out of a violent situation in the home. I am concerned that the recent embargo on recruitment to the public service would have an effect in this area, but I was heartened to see that the Minister for Health indicated during discussions on the Health Estimate that child care and child protection was one of his three priorities and that funds would not be taken out of this area.
Statistics have shown that 45 per cent of mothers of abused children are themselves battered. In many of these cases the father is abusing both the woman and the children. A woman who is being physically, sexually or mentally abused in her own home is in a very vulnerable position when it comes to protecting her children. It is very difficult for these women to stand up against violent men and to protect themselves and their children. Women who are being abused are often afraid to contact health care workers or social workers because they are afraid their children will be removed from them. We need to change this perception quickly so that battered women whose children are being abused as well will seek help from social workers and health care workers. By protecting women we are protecting their children.
It is imperative that all social workers and health care workers are trained in dealing with abused women and children. In its recommendations, the Commission on the Status of Women discussed the economic dependency of women and how this controlled their lives. Some of the statistics outlined in the report of the Second Commission on the Status of Women were very interesting. I was a member of that committee. We expect a lot from women and we sometimes forget how vulnerable they are. Women constitute only 32 per cent of the work force. They earn on average 68 per cent of mens' incomes. Women constitute 60 per cent of those earning below the low pay threshold. Some 53 per cent of Irish women are working full time in the home and therefore are totally dependent economically on their partners.
When women who are being abused by their partners are asked why they stay in the situation of domestic abuse, the main reasons they give are economic. They cannot exercise control over their own lives when they are economically dependent or in poverty. We need to make many changes to combat these problems.
We need major changes in domestic violence legislation. The Minister for Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Taylor, has indicated that he will publish legislation on domestic violence shortly and that this will go a long way towards meeting the reservations held by groups such as the Commission on the Status of Women and Womens' Aid, who deal with women who are the victims of violence. I look forward to seeing that legislation.
We need ongoing public awareness campaigns as well as a long term commitment to conducting public education campaigns. Attitudes must be changed because unless the issue of domestic violence can be brought out of the privacy of the home into the public arena there will be no solution to this problem.
