A woman who was stabbed, burned and had hair pulled out in clumps; another in her 80s who left her husband on Christmas Day after 60 years of abuse; and a 22-year-old woman who was repeatedly raped by her husband after being brought to Ireland for forced marriage are among those who have sheltered in one refuge since Christmas.
Siobhán Ferguson, head of services with Sonas Housing, also cited a mother who arrived at the refuge with her three children. They had had to leave their one-bedroom home because her 14-year-old daughter was being sexually abused by the landlord, she said.
“Imagine, too, a teenager who has been sex-trafficked into this country who carries her teddy bear everywhere she goes, or a woman assaulted so badly in her own home that 26 of her bones were broken,” she said.
Ms Ferguson was speaking at an event in Dublin on Tuesday hosted by the domestic violence charity, which is calling for a streamlining of the infrastructure of services for women and children enduring abuse.
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David Hall, Sonas Housing’s chief executive, said the profile of women fleeing abuse has became more complex but accessing services must become simpler.
“If you are woman who wants to leave, there are too many entities to phone. They are all different organisations: some offering beds, some offering advocacy, some open day and night, some open only 9 to 5,” he said.
Women wanting to leave their abusive partners should be able to call one phone number that puts them through to a central database where staff answering can access a resource showing the availability of refuge beds in real time, Mr Hall said.
This would be akin to the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive’s freephone number for homeless people in need of emergency accommodation, or dialling 999, to be triaged by someone who knows exactly what service is needed.
Sonas is the largest provider of refuge beds nationally. It had to turn away 376 women and 750 children last year due to a lack of space.
The charity is repurposing facilities later this year, with new refuges to open in Dublin 4 and 22.
“There is significant support at political level for domestic violence services and we are thankful for that,” Mr Hall said.
However, he said, the conversation should not simply cover bed numbers.
“We must shift the narrative so that policymakers and legislators recognise the need to make the system as user-friendly as possible for the women and children experiencing the trauma of domestic violence,” he said.
