The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has called for refuge accommodation commitments outlined in the Third National Strategy on Domestic Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (DSGBV) to be revised, saying this should be done with a view to expanding capacity in order to comply with Council of Europe standards on ensuring protection of survivors and victims. The calls were contained in our Legislative Observations on the General Scheme of the Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Agency Bill, submitted to the Department of Justice.
DSGBV is the leading cause of homelessness for women and children in Ireland. The Strategy currently pledges to provide 280 refuge spaces, which is considerably lower than the 675 spaces needed for Council of Europe guidelines compliance. Contemporary data indicates that the majority of refusals for women seeking refuge are due to capacity issues. Our Submission noted that failure by the State to provide access to immediate protection will mean violation of its international commitments under the UN Convention on the Eliminations of all Forms of Violence against Women.
The General Scheme of the Bill provided for the establishment of a new statutory agency to combat DSGBV. It sets out this Agency’s responsibilities as including the implementation of the Third National Strategy, the monitoring of the planned increase in the number of refuge spaces available for victims and survivors, and to assist in the long term development of permanent structures to deliver further refuge accommodation.
In our Submission, we called for a victim and survivor centred agency that will safeguard the equality and human rights of those that it will be providing services to, and ensure that that provision takes in to account their specific needs. This includes structurally vulnerable groups including women, girls, older women, minority ethnic women, migrant women, Traveller and Roma Women, disabled Women, LGBT+ women, victims of trafficking, women with addiction issues and women in (and exiting) prostitution.
As Ireland’s independent National Rapporteur on the Trafficking of Human Beings, we repeated our call for the establishment of specialised accommodation facilities for victims and survivors of trafficking and given the gendered nature of trafficking, that that accommodation should be gender-sensitive, appropriate and safe. Trafficking for sexual exploitation is a recognised form of gender-based violence in the new Third National Strategy on DSGBV. As such, the DSGBV Agency must support and include victim and survivors of sexual exploitation; whom are disproportionately migrant women.
The absence of gender-specific shelters in Ireland leads to further risk of harm, re-trafficking and further victimisation. The provision of safe and appropriate housing is internationally accepted as central to a victim’s recovery both as an independent individual and to support them in any criminal investigation or prosecution. Use of Direct Provision accommodation for victims and survivors of trafficking has been roundly condemned by GRETA, civil society, OSCE Reports and the US State Department.
Our Submission also highlighted the importance of the systemic and adequate collection of disaggregated data, not only to document the prevalence of DSGBV, but to inform the legal and policy framework surrounding the issue.
Although the General Scheme does provide for the Agency to undertake research projects and evaluation, these appear limited to statistical information related to the planning of services. We recommend that the remit goes beyond this, and that the Agency should be responsible for developing and overseeing a comprehensive statistical database with robust data in line with the State’s obligations under Article 11 of the Istanbul Convention.
Chief Commissioner Sinéad Gibney, said
“The establishment of a new central statutory Agency is an essential step in moving towards zero tolerance on DSGBV. It is essential that the lessons are learned from past attempts and that this Agency has the independence, funding and adequate expertise and experience needed to effect real change. At the core of its function must be an approach that is centred on the needs of victims and survivors, including structurally vulnerable groups. This includes the provision of appropriate, safe and accessible refuge accommodation and support services in line with our international commitments.”END/ For further information, please contact: Sarah Clarkin, IHREC Communications Manager, 01 8592641 / 087 4687760 sarah.clarkin@ihrec.ie Follow us on twitter @_IHREC