Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 February 2024
364. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Justice the total number of emergency phone calls received by An Garda Síochána relating to domestic violence in 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5435/24]
View answerCombatting all forms of domestic, sexual and gender-based remains a priority for this Government, the Department of Justice and the Garda Commissioner.
'Zero Tolerance,' the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV), sets out an ambitious whole of government five-year programme of reform to achieve a society which does not accept DSGBV or the attitudes which underpin these crimes. The Strategy, which was co-designed with the sector, also has a significant focus on improving the system for victims of these terrible crimes and on ensuring there is a full range of supports and services available nationwide to support and empower victims and survivors.
I can assure the Deputy that creating a criminal justice system that supports and protects victims at every stage of their journey through it, is and will remain a priority and to ensure this is the case, An Garda Síochána and my Department are continuing to work hard to strengthen trust and confidence in the system, so that victims will feel confident in coming forward to report what has happened to them and get justice.
An Garda Síochána prioritise and proactively respond to incidents of domestic abuse and as the Deputy may be aware, there is now a Divisional Protective Services Unit in each Garda Division, meaning specialised teams are in place nationwide to engage with vulnerable victims in these most difficult cases.
As part of delivering on the commitments under the Third National Strategy, I have strengthened the law to combat all forms of domestic, sexual and gender based violence, including by introducing new stand-alone offences of stalking and non-fatal strangulation and by doubling to 10 years the maximum sentence for assault causing harm, this being one of the most common offences in domestic violence cases. I am also progressing a new Sexual Offences Bill which will, among other things, improve supports for victims.
In relation to the Deputy's query, I have been informed by An Garda Síochána that 59,625 Domestic Abuse calls were reported during 2023.
This is operational data taken from PULSE on today’s date and is liable to change.
Domestic Abuse calls are counted as any of the following incident types:
• Coercive Control
• Breach of Interim Barring Order
• Breach of Protection Order
• Breach of Barring Order
• Breach of Safety Order
• Domestic - No Offence Identified
• Breach of Emergency Barring Order
Also included are incident types with a recorded motive of ‘Domestic Abuse’, as well as any incident type with an original CAD incident type of ‘DVSA’.
