A women's refuge centre is to distribute 10,000 copies of its information guide for women living with domestic abuse.
Ms Monica McElvaney, director of Limerick-based Adapt House, said the guide, Lean On Me, would be distributed to GPs, hospital women's groups, libraries, community centres and Garda stations.
The guide was compiled by Ms Susan McNaughton, of Adapt, and women survivors of domestic abuse. It outlines how women in an abusive relationship should have a safety plan worked out in advance. This includes having a place where phone calls can be made and having a safe place to stay overnight in an emergency. Keeping a bag ready with money, spare keys, clothes and children's items is also recommended.
Ms McElvaney said more than 500 women from around the midwest region used the services of the Adapt House organisation last year.
Ms Mary McGrath, a support worker with Southill Domestic Abuse Project, said violence against women in the home continued to be one of the major unreported crimes. "One in four women at some time in their lives will be subjected to some form of domestic abuse, either physical or mental."
According to research she compiled, entitled Starting from Scratch, women who leave the family home wait between seven months and two years for local authority housing.
At an inauguration ceremony for the guide and the publication of the research, Ms Mary Wallace, Minister of State at the Department of Justice, said women who left the family home faced devastating physical and emotional processes and uncertainty about the future. "Women who cannot return home and need to move on from the refuge can find lack of alternative accommodation a problem and can end up staying longer than needed or intended."