Zero Tolerance must Protect Everyone

By Denise Charlton

There is much to welcome in the new National Strategy to combat Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. It is comprehensive, contains tangible as well as high level goals plus commitments which will be welcomed by both frontline service providers and campaigners.

Donors to The Community Foundation for Ireland are long-standing supporters of many of those groups. They will share much of the enthusiasm which has, at least in this initial stage, greeted the announcement of the strategy.

We are partners of organisations which have been instrumental in shaping the document and delivering commitments on issues which have been the focus of both long-running campaigns and increasing public concerns.

No-one left behind

The strategy commits the Government and its agencies to a Zero Tolerance approach. For such a policy to work it must cover sexual violence in all its forms. No-one can be left behind. Geography, age, personal circumstance are not excuses for leaving anyone at risk of continued abuse, threats and violence.

The identification of four pillars within the strategy, Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Policy Coordination certainly does raise hope that a lot of consideration has gone into the document.

A commitment to double the number of refuge places in Ireland will go someway to filling the gap in regional services which was laid bare during Covid-19 and its lockdowns. Indeed, the Government response comes well over a year after one of our anonymous donors supported the first ever refuge in West Cork.

Other important measures include age-appropriate teaching of consent in all educational curricula. This follows ground-breaking research by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre supported by some of our donors, which showed that while most people agree Ireland has a problem only a minority could actually give a definition for consent.

The Strategy makes clear prostitution as well as human trafficking for sexual exploitation are both gender-based violence. This is a hugely important statement as it recognises the human misery and criminality which lies at the very centre of this evil trade.

The recognition that women and girls in prostitution need safe exit routes out of exploitation and support to restart their lives is in line with the calls of the Beyond Exploitation campaign. The commitment to further reduce demand for prostitution signals an intention to continue following the model of targeting the buyers of sex, whose actions fuel human rights abuses.

Next Steps

The past two years, when victims were locked down at home with their abusers and sex buyers defied the danger to public health by continuing their crimes during a pandemic, have shown us that there can be no going back.

Covid-19 did not cause sexual violence but it did bring it into sharp focus. It has brought our communities and our country to an important moment.

We have of course heard the phrase Zero-Tolerance before. It has been trotted out by politicians for decades when they are faced with huge public concern about crime.

This time it must be meaningful and lead to real actions, real results and a society where no-one should be forced to live in fear.

At The Community Foundation for Ireland we are proud that the commitment of our donors to combat sexual violence is as strong today as it was when we started 22-years ago.

We have during that period ensured that helplines were answered, that new technology including rapid screen shutdown was introduced and that laws such as those criminalising coercive control and the outlawing of the purchase of sex were introduced.

As our community and frontline partners examine the detail of the new strategy we will be fully engaged with them. We will work and support them to ensure any gaps are quickly identified and filled and we will also with our donors support their efforts to ensure the policy is delivered in full.

If you would like to get involved in this effort, then please do drop us a line [email protected]

Denise Charlton is Chief Executive of The Community Foundation for Ireland which has provided almost €100 Million in grants to 5,000 organisations over the past two-decades.