SEANAD REPORT: "Rather than planning to equip gardaí with video cameras to film people coming out of pubs drunk, the Minister for Justice would do society a much greater service if he were to provide gardaí with cameras to take to the scenes of domestic violence as was done in England," Ms Sheila Terry (FG) said.
This would enable them to record injuries and gather evidence at an early stage. "Very often those who report domestic violent crimes subsequently withdraw their statements under pressure from the offenders. Some studies have put the level of retraction as high as 46 per cent. Speaking in a debate on actions required to improve services for victims of domestic violence, Ms Terry said that the statistics for 2002 revealed an average of 22 incidents of such violence every day, which was frightening.
The Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Mr O'Dea, said Garda statistics showed that in 92 per cent of cases reported in 2002 the victim of domestic violence had been female.
"It is a sad reflection on our society that some women live in fear of violent attack on a daily basis. The fact that this violence occurs in a family home, a place which should offer security and love, makes the crime even more devastating for the victim. We must recognise this fact and not think that because the perpetrator and the victim live together, this should be considered a mitigating factor. In my view, the opposite should be the case."
Mr Tony Kett (FF) said the former Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, had posed a question that had struck a chord with him. "He wondered what the response would be if the media carried a story that a new risk had been discovered that would affect 10 per cent of the population, a large number of those affected would be hospitalised, some of them affected would die while others would suffer for the rest of their lives, and children would be seriously affected in many cases. He also asked what would be the response a year later if nothing was done about it.