Sarah Benson of Women's Aid, Mary McDermott of Safe Ireland, and Sean Cooke of Men's Development Network joined Off The Ball to discuss the rise in reported cases of domestic abuse in Ireland.
Nathan Murphy chaired the discussion about how the Covid-19 lockdown was affecting the people who use the three organisations.
Women's Aid is #StillHere for women experiencing domestic abuse on the 24hr National Helpline 1800 341 900 and online at https://t.co/9sbAgoYuSE. Details of our services and other supports around the country can be found at https://t.co/zl8Idn2AD6 @DeptJusticeIRL
— Women's Aid Ireland (@Womens_Aid) April 27, 2020
"In terms of domestic violence," began Mary McDermott of Safe Ireland, "this Covid virus replicates the stress of other major instances.
"So you see in the run-up to Christmas people get very quiet, they are trying to cope with stress and abuse.
"Once there is a crisis like this, and Covid is an extraordinary historical event from our point of view, where we are in lockdown and we are pushed into the home.
"From a case of domestic violence and coercive control that is a prime location.
"Obviously there's violence in other scenarios that we are used to talking about, in the workplace and so on, but the home is a very particular location and a very acute site for violence and coercive control."
Acute challenges
Women's Aid have expanded the hours of their services both online and on their phone lines during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sarah Benson of the charity lined out how people have been using the services: "there have been people reaching out trying to make contact quietly without having to actually make a call."
"The cases are complex," said Benson of the difficulties facing the charity, "we are hearing that although the courts are available the opportunity to get out to make applications for example protective orders are becoming more difficult.
"For childcare reasons, for opportunity reasons, people are simply not allowed to leave their homes. So we see the acute challenges that this situation is presenting."
Sean Cooke is from the Men's Development Network, the first male advice line used in the national 'Still Here' campaign
"I don't think there is a gender-specific reaction around it (Covid crisis) everybody is affected by it in very very similar ways.
"In terms of us as an organisation, we work with both perpetrators and the victims and survivors of domestic abuse."
For those struggling as they hit the midweek hump we are here #StillHere today and everyday of the week.
Call 1800 816 588 or visit https://t.co/Q7JZfJ4Nuv#Ireland #IrelandLockdown #irelandoncall pic.twitter.com/M1AFBnSS8G— Men's Development Network (@MensNetworkIE) April 29, 2020
"A lot of the work has been about managing the risk for individuals who are involved in our programmes but also supporting families and women.
"We have a partner support programme that works around our perpetrator programme too.
"What we have seen over the last couple of weeks is an intensity to the telephone calls coming into the advice line.
"There's a lot of anxiety there, the calls that we are getting are lasting longer, people want to talk that bit more and they have the opportunity to do that and to try de-stress themselves if they can.
"We think it'ds great that we look at this not in a gender-specific way but in a gender-sensitive way.
Paradox
"There's a strange paradox involved," says Mary McDermott, "people are locked in they cannot go out.
"Sometimes if they are locked in with an abuser they cannot use their phone. We've had instances of women trying to go to their cars to make a call.
"At the home level, there is a great silencing and a shutdown, that mimics other emergency patterns.
"The paradox of this and in a way it's a dreadful thing to say, the Covid lockdown crisis offers us an opportunity to raise the issue at a national level.
"Domestic violence and coercive control are among the top three priorities for Tusla, for the Guards, for the Department of Justice and the courts' services.
"It's being named very publicly and the fact we are here on Off The Ball indicates that it is part of national discussion."
"It's an opportunity to fundamentally understand the dynamics of domestic violence and coercive control."
If you are affected by any of the issues raised here, do not hesitate to call the Gardai or go to the Still Here homepage for a full list of supports available in your area.
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