Remarks at a Reception Marking Women’s Aid 40th Anniversary
Áras an Uachtaráin, 19th March 2014
Tugann sé an-phléisiúr dom fáilte a fhearadh romhaibh ar fad chuig Áras an Uachtaráin tráthnóna, agus an deis seo a ghlacadh chun na mórghnímh atá bainte amach ag Grúpa Cúnta na mBan le ceathracha bliain anuas a mholadh.
[It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to Áras an Uachtaráin this afternoon, and to avail of this occasion to pay tribute to the immense achievements of Women’s Aid over the past forty years.]
Ever since that day in 1974 when Nuala Fennel sent a letter to the Irish Times to call on volunteers to join up forces in order to help women who suffer emotional and physical abuse at the hands of somebody to whom they are intimately related, your organisation has grown from strength to strength. Today Women’s Aid is recognised as one of Ireland’s main sources of support for women whose daily lives are scarred by violence and fear. Your organisation responds to more than 11,000 calls each year through its National Freephone Helpline, and it provides several hundred face-to-face visits with distressed women each year.
This afternoon, I would like, as President of Ireland, to thank you sincerely for your dedication to tackling the grave issue of domestic violence in our country, and redressing the devastation it causes to the lives of so many women and children.
The steady increase in the number of women helped by Women’s Aid over the last four decades is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it indicates that domestic violence is progressively getting the levels of public recognition it deserves, that women are more willing to come forward and seek support, and that violence inside the home is acknowledged for what it is – a crime of the gravest sort. On the other hand, the number of incidents recorded by your organisation, counted in the thousands, attests to the persistence of this social evil.
Research conducted in 2005 by the National Crime Council and the ESRI found that 1 in 7 women in our country have, at some times in their lives, experienced severe abuse of a physical, sexual or emotional nature at the hands of a partner or husband. The same survey estimates that 213,000 women in Ireland have been severely abused by somebody close to them. This is not a uniquely Irish phenomenon: the EU Campaign Against Domestic Violence has shown that 25% of all violent crimes reported in the EU involve a man assaulting his wife or partner.
Domestic violence is an especially pernicious form of violence, not least because it has a higher rate of reoccurrence than any other type of crime. Moreover, the poison of domestic violence extends beyond the aggressor and his direct victim; it seeps into every aspect of family life, into the hearts and minds of children who witness it, who grow up in the shadow of fear, and develop a skewed perspective as to what is acceptable behaviour.
As a society, our responsibility is to stop this cycle of destructive violence – to tackle it with all the means at our disposal. I know that Women’s Aid has, for some years, undertaken important lobbying actions in order to build up our country’s legislative apparatus and improve the criminal justice system response to domestic violence. You are to be commended for these crucial initiatives.
The daily work conducted by Women’s Aid staff and volunteers who run the helpline is also of the utmost importance. Every phone call picked up, every face-to-face conversation, contributes to breaking the spiral of abuse, to cracking the cage of isolation and hopelessness in which the victims of this form of violence live.
Thanks to your sympathy and support, these women find it easier to articulate their ordeal, to reflect on it, and to eventually, hopefully, emancipate themselves from the ascendancy of their abusive partner. You encourage them to face, but also transform, their suffering, thereby paving the way for a future where hope and meaning can be restored.
To conclude, may I, once again, commend the vision, generosity, and determination of Women’s Aid founder, the late Nuala Fennel, and thank each and every one of you who are gathered here this afternoon for your profoundly humane dedication to supporting women in their efforts to reconstruct happy, decent lives for themselves and their children – lives that are lived free of fear.
When I look around this room, it is heartening to see so many people committed to combating distress and despair. I wish you every success with your important work, and continued courage in your future endeavours.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.