Housing crisis affecting domestic violence sufferers,  manager at Cork service for victims of domestic violence says 

A Cork service for victims of domestic violence has said it is seeing greater demand for its services from people with mental health problems and disabilities, as a Cork TD says the housing crisis is exacerbating victims’ problems.

The recent Women’s Aid Annual Impact Report 2024 outlined a 12% increase in contacts and a 17% increase in disclosures of domestic violence compared to the previous year.

Deborah O’Flynn, manager of OSS Cork on South Main St, told The Echo that “the complexities have increased in terms of the challenges faced by the women and men who seek support from our services”.

The Women’s Aid report highlighted that 33% of women in contact with their service were being subjected to domestic abuse from their ex-partner, and outlined that the housing crisis is leaving women vulnerable to homelessness if they leave their partner.

Ms O’Flynn said: “I would echo what Women’s Aid are saying in terms of separation abuse and, absolutely, the housing crisis has drastically reduced the choices available for clients trying to extricate themselves from dangerous situations.

“We’ve also noticed an increase in the number of people accessing our services with mental health issues, and a greater number of clients presenting with disabilities.”

Cork Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice said that the Government needed to do more.

“Tragically, in Cork we are familiar with the cases where women have lost their lives due to gender-based violence,” he said.

“There is no greater violation of a woman’s human rights than the right to life itself. This loss of life results in utter heartache and trauma for the loved ones.

“A key issue facing survivors is the lack of safe housing when they are fleeing domestic violence or leaving a refuge. The Government must significantly increase the number of women’s refuge spaces in Cork and across the country.

“Social media companies’ algorithms are actively rewarding misogyny, misinformation, and abuse because it keeps people scrolling and increases their profits. Studies have shown that young men and boys are particularly targeted.

“The Government must introduce specific and effective legislation to ensure that engagement-based recommendation algorithms are turned off by default.”

The Women’s Aid release also discussed the court system, which it described as “prolonged, costly and dis-empowering”. Mr Rice agreed, saying: “Our justice system often works against survivors of gender-based violence.

“The Government must give new powers to gardaí to remove abusers from the home and change legislation so that survivors’ counselling notes are not routinely used as evidence in sex offence trials.”