Rose Conway-Walsh: Condemns State Inaction on Violence Against Women
Rose Conway-Walsh criticised the minister and the State for failing to take violence against women and domestic violence seriously, calling for urgent legal and social reforms. She pressed for Clare's Law and Ginny's Law, highlighted court decisions forcing children to spend time with perpetrators, and warned that perpetrators face insufficient sanctions.
Key criticisms
She argued that the State does not treat violence against women with the seriousness it requires, citing misplaced funding priorities and the absence of effective sanctions. She said perpetrators continue because they are allowed to get away with it, and asked how many women might be alive if the issue were treated seriously.
Court decisions and child safety
She described cases where judges have ordered children to spend time with perpetrators after those perpetrators had threatened to kill them, saying the current law - which is meant to protect people - is failing victims and placing children in dangerous situations.
Calls for legal reforms
She explicitly asked why Clare's Law and Ginny's Law have not been introduced, saying the whole House should support their adoption. She argued that if there were political will these laws and other urgent measures would already be in place.
Support for survivors and services
She called for more refuges and for measures to stop abuse before it starts, and commended the organisation Beyond Surviving and a meeting with Ciara in Castlebar. She also pointed to housing shortages and other barriers that make it difficult for women to leave abusive situations and to take their children with them.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Minister, the truth is that we do not take this issue seriously. I want to thank Deputy Coppinger for bringing this here today before us again. But I do that with an absolute heavy heart. Because let's face it, if we were serious about tackling violence against women, sexual, financial, coercive control, all of those things, we would be doing something about it, and we're not. And I look at a grant aid that I saw there that was granted, it's twice as much as what it was for the scanner in the National Library. We do not take it serious. We do not have the sanctions in the first place. So why do perpetrators do it? They do it because they get away with it and they're allowed to get away with it over and over again. How many women could be alive today if we took this issue serious? We talk about a zero tolerance. Well, if we had a zero tolerance, we wouldn't be doing what we're doing. And we certainly would have a proper justice situation. We don't have that. We are putting children day after day in very serious, dangerous situations where we're making them spend time with perpetrators. I know people myself where the judges have been making the children go to see the perpetrators, to spend time with them, after they have threatened to kill them. That's our law. These are the laws that are there, by the way, to protect people. We make it impossible for women to leave, not least because of the housing situation and to bring their children with them. There are just so many things. I am so fed up in talking about it and not doing the things that need to be done around violence against women and domestic violence. I have been working in this area for over 20 years now and I don't see progress and I don't see the progress that is needed and that is talked about over and over again. And yes, we need more refuge places, of course we do, but we need to stop people doing it in the first place and we need to call them out, men and women, to stop them doing it. I want to commend the organisation Beyond Surviving. I met Ciara last weekend in Castlebar. That is a hugely important organisation as well. Why aren't we bringing in Clare's Law and Ginny's Law? Why not? Why don't we have it in you? Have the support of the whole House here to be able to do that. If there was a will there to do it, we would be doing it and we would be doing it as a matter of urgency. you
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
