Cork charity says digital abuse in domestic violence cases has 'skyrocketed' 

Digital abuse is a “real” part of domestic violence, according to a West Cork support service which saw an increase of more than 50% in its domestic abuse interventions last year.

West Cork Beacon had 7,943 interventions with clients in 2025 — up by 52% from 5,214 in 2024. These included court accompaniments, crisis calls, and intake assessments.

Its chief executive, MaryClare Clark, said: “That is a huge jump. Even for the first half of the year, there is an increase there as well.

“The biggest concern we have is the ongoing increase in digital abuse. It has skyrocketed because there is so much more technology that perpetrators can use to track their victims or to stalk them or control them financially.”

She said even buying groceries online could be monitored and controlled, allowing a perpetrator to control expenditure and see what is being bought. Other forms of digital abuse include deepfakes, cyber stalking, sextortion, image-based sexual assault, and tracking.

Tracking device

The Echo revealed earlier this year that the organisation had bought a tracking detection device after an increase in cases of surveillance of women by current or former partners.

One woman who lives more than four hours away from West Cork contacted the organisation about the possibility of having her car checked for a tracker, using the centre’s detection device.

Earlier this year, 39-year-old Seán Fagan, of Dunvale Crescent, Frankfield, Douglas, was sentenced to four years with the last two years suspended at Cork Circuit Criminal Court for harassment of his former partner between September 26, 2021, and March 12, 2022.

He was also ordered to have no direct or indirect contact with his former partner, and not to go within 500m of her home or place of work for 15 years. The case heard the man turned up in the same places as her, and a tracking device was found attached to her car after gardaí had advised her to have her car examined.

When gardaí searched Fagan’s home, they found two other tracking devices and a tracker app on his phone.

Difficult year

Ms Clark said this year had already been a difficult one in relation to deaths of women in violent circumstances.

She said: “We have a long way to go. As a member of the domestic violence services community, we are all heartbroken and appalled at the increase in cases in the last year.

“Not just fatal cases, but the consistent uptick in victims seeking services and the increased barriers to their safety.”

The figures are revealed as gardaí continue to liaise with international partners in their investigation into the murder of 43-year-old Jamey Carney, who was found dead in her home in Killarney last Tuesday. Ahmad Al-Saqar, a Jordanian asylum seeker, fled Ireland in the hours after the killing.

Jennie’s Law, the Domestic Violence Register Bill, is expected to be signed into law tomorrow. The law is named after Jennifer Poole, murdered by her former partner Gavin Murphy in 2021.