Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 9 December 2020
184. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 174 of 24 November 2020, the reason there are no intervention programmes for females; her views on whether the failure to provide such programmes for women in need of the service is discriminatory in view of the fact that it is nearly impossible to access such supports elsewhere; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42295/20]
View answerThe Deputy may be aware that my Department has agreed with the Central Statistics Office that it will conduct a major National Sexual Violence Prevalence Study, which will look in detail at the experience of women and men victims of sexual violence and abuse in Ireland, with repeat large scale surveys every decade. This will be a key element in ensuring that we develop an informed understanding of domestic and sexual violence that takes into account the range and indices of the types of violence and abuse that occur; including where females are perpetrators.
The overwhelming majority of sexual offences are committed by males and that is why the perpetrator programmes currently funded by the Department concentrate on male offenders, but if applications are made to my Department to fund female perpetrator programmes, they will certainly be considered.
To ensure we have the right framework in place that will enable the Government to respond effectively and comprehensively to these matters, the Programme for Government commitment to conduct an audit of how responsibility for Domestic, Sexual and Gender based Violence (DSGBV) is segmented across different government agencies will be undertaken by an external consultant with meaningful involvement from relevant NGOs and service providers, as well as input from Departments and agencies.
The terms of reference for the audit have been finalised, and very shortly the Department will commence a procurement process to engage an independent person to undertake the audit. It is intended that the audit will be completed within 3 months of commissioning.
