Leeson Repeats Call For Women's Refuge In Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
Éirígí’s Rathdown representative, Brian Leeson, has again called for the establishment of a women’s refuge in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown. He made the call in response to the publishing of a report by DLR County Council that showed a requirement for a minimum of 22 secure family units for the victims of domestic violence in the area. There are currently no such units in DLR. Speaking from Ballinteer Leeson said,
“It’s now more than three years since the Éirígí-supported Rathdown Public Lands Plan called for the building of a women’s refuge on public land in the DLR area. And more than two and a half years since I called for the establishment of a local refuge after meeting with the service-provider Sonas in May, 2019.
During the pandemic, all services that provide support for victims of sexual and domestic violence reported large increases in the numbers of women accessing their services. The number of domestic abuse incidents reported to the Gardaí across the state increased from 22,000 in 2017 to 34,500 in 2020.
Despite the documented increase in domestic violence, there was no specific allocation towards addressing domestic violence in the 2022 budget. Rather, support services have to rely on funding from Tusla, often competing with each other for the same pot of money. This results in catastrophic gaps in services, such as is the case in DLR.
Brian Leeson with fellow Together For Yes activists pictured during the 2018 campaign to repeal the 8th amendment. Éirígí understands that fight for women’s rights is integral to the fight the New Republic that will replace the misogynistic state that emerged from the victorious counter-revolution a century ago.
It’s estimated that at least 2,000 women and girls over the age of fifteen in DLR experience sexual or physical violence at the hands of a partner of ex-partner in any twelve month period. This figure tallies with the staggering increase in the number of Garda-reported incidents of domestic violence in DLR, which rose from 280 in 2017, to 1,000 in 2020.
The fact that women cannot access a local refuge close to their families, friends, schools, GP etc is almost certainly causing some women to stay in dangerous domestic situations longer than they would if they didn’t have to leave the area to access safe refuge.
The recent DLR commissioned report recommends the provision of a minimum of 22 secure family units along with a range of supports for the women that end up using these facilities, as well as the increased provision of outreach services across the council area.
While we in Éirígí welcome the report, there is always the danger that it will gather dust like so many others. It’s been known for years that there was a serious gap in domestic violence services and refuge places in DLR.
The track record of the state in relation to providing funding for domestic and sexual violence services is nothing short of appalling. Financial supports for rape crisis centres remain below pre-austerity levels, while many of the budget cuts since 2008 have disproportionately affected women. It is estimated that the cost of gender-based violence in the Twenty-Six counties is in the order of 4bn per year, yet only a tiny fraction of that is spent on combating it.
The state has long shown that it will not provide supports for women or take measures to increase equality between the sexes without popular pressure from below, in the form of campaigning by feminist organisations, political groups and trade unions, amongst others.
In 2022 Éirígí will continue to campaign in our own right, and work with others, for the provision of a women’s refuge and related services in DLR. No further delay in the provision of such basic public services can be allowed.”