<p>
	Ruth Coppinger questions Government commitment to tackling domestic violence</p>
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	An estimated one in four Irish women have experienced physical and sexual violence since the age of 15, the D&aacute;il has heard.</p>
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	AAA-PBP TD Ruth Coppinger also said that one in three women had experienced psychological violence, and &ldquo;at what is meant to be a special time in a woman&rsquo;s life the Rotunda Hospital estimates that one in eight pregnant women experiences violence&rdquo;.</p>
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	Ms Coppinger questioned the Government&rsquo;s commitment to dealing with domestic violence as she highlighted concerns about why women stay in abusive relationships.</p>
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	&ldquo;What can a woman expect if she tried to escape a violent relationship in Enda Kenny&rsquo;s Ireland,&rdquo; she asked of the Taoiseach.</p>
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	Mr Kenny said he was &ldquo;appalled&rdquo; by domestic violence and that they were two words that should never go together.</p>
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	&nbsp;</p>
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	&lsquo;Shames manhood&rsquo;</p>
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	&ldquo;It shames manhood for those who beat women. It&rsquo;s a crime to beat a woman.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
	He added that &ldquo;those who profess in their manhood or their machoness that they&rsquo;re doing good by beating women, do themselves and their families and our nation down&rdquo;.</p>
<p>
	The Taoiseach also told the D&aacute;il that the Domestic Violence Bill would be published before the end of the year. With its measures a victim would no longer have to have equal or greater interest in a property from which a perpetrator was being barred, and could bring a family member, friend or support worker to court with them, he said.</p>
<p>
	It would be possible to give evidence by televisual link, to avoid intimidation of victims. Perpetrators would be barred from communicating with victims electronically.</p>
<p>
	Ms Coppinger said a woman trying to escape an abusive relationship might not be able to get through to a helpline because the Government &ldquo;has systematically cut funding for organisations such as Women&rsquo;s Aid.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Risk homelessness</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;If she seeks refuge she will probably become one of the 6,000 women turned away from refuges last year &ndash; that&rsquo;s 16 every day.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
	She pointed out that the charity, Sonas, said &ldquo;many women were staying in the home to be abused rather than risk homelessness&rdquo;.</p>
<p>
	She called on Mr Kenny to &ldquo;specifically agree to increase refugee space to the European norm of one per 10,000. Will you agree to provide rent allowance to any woman fleeing domestic violence?&rdquo;</p>
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	The Taoiseach said child and family Agency Tusla was providing &euro;20.6 million this year to support 60 services for those affected by domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and would receive an increase of &euro;37 million in 2017.</p>
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	He added that &euro;12 million was in place for emergency refuge and support services.</p>
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	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	(Published by The Irish Times on the 23rd November 2016)</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/many-irish-women-have-faced-violence-since-age-of-15-d%C3%A1il-told-1.2879764">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/many-irish-women-have-faced-violence-since-age-of-15-d%C3%A1il-told-1.2879764</a></p>
