Harris Apology Not Enough For Victims of Domestic Abuse
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris recently issued an apology to the 3,120 victims of domestic abuse whose 999 emergency calls were either cancelled or ignored during 2019 and 2020.
Many of these calls were made by women and children during the strictest period of the Covid-19 lockdown when they were effectively trapped in their homes with their abusers. When they reached out to the state for help they were ignored by the Gardaí.
An internal Garda inquiry into the cancelled calls largely focused on a computer system which has been in place since the 1980s. While this technology clearly needs updating, bigger questions about Garda views of domestic violence must also be answered.
Harris is blaming a computer system, but it is the policing system we need to look at
Harris has stated that the Gardaí will be contacting those whose calls were cancelled and offering them the chance to report their abuse for a second time.
This gesture will be of little value to women and children who rang the Gardaí because their physical safety was in imminent danger. They needed a Garda response within minutes, not two years later.
The mass cancellation of domestic abuse related emergency calls, and the inadequate response to those cancellations, shows yet again how the State does not prioritise the safety of women.
The scandal fits into a decades-long pattern of failing to protect women from abuse. From the mother and baby homes to restrictive abortion legalisation; from the CervicalCheck scandal to the staggering number of young women who experience sexual harassment, women’s safety remains a low priority for the Twenty-Six County state.
An apology is not enough for the victims of the cancelled 999 calls. They need to see meaningful change to ensure that all future emergency calls to the Gardaí from the victims of domestic abuse are dealt within an appropriate and timely manner.
Éirígí is calling for an independent inquiry into the scandal of cancelled domestic abuse calls - an inquiry that will go far beyond examining the effectiveness of a computer system - an inquiry that will examine the individual decisions that were made by individual Gardaí of all ranks - an inquiry that will examine the internal Garda cultural attitudes towards the issue of domestic violence - an inquiry that will result in the changes that are necessary to ensure every future call for help is met with a rapid, effective response.