Government must do more to support women who have been abused, says Mitchell

Sinn Fein TD for Dublin Bay North Denise Mitchell has called on the Government to do more to support victims of gender-based violence.

Speaking in the Dáil yesterday evening Deputy Mitchell said more resources need to be assigned to help tackle the problem.

“The state needs to do far more to support women who are victims of gender-based violence,” she said.

“Government needs to fund these services properly, and need to fill in the gaps where there’s currently no services.

“Charities have stepped in where the state has failed – the women of Ireland deserve much better.”

Mitchell cited Safe Ireland, a charity that protects woman and children from abuse, which said that in the last four months of 2020 there were over 800 requests for refuge that couldn’t be met.

“We need Ministers to come up with new polices and legislation to address our failures to meet the requirements of the Istanbul Convention,” she said.

“A new dedicated Family Court is long overdue.

“The Government must establish a domestic, sexual and gender-based violence policy and service implementation group urgently.

“It needs to commit that the strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence will be implemented in full.

“We need to strive to do much better across all Departments in making our public spaces safer for women in Ireland.

“There’s no quick fix, but we need to work together and start taking the necessary steps to improve Irish society in the here and now.”