Holly Cairns: ‘No urgency’ from State to address gender-based violence 

Events in recent weeks have shown there is “no urgency” from the State to address gender-based violence, according to Holly Cairns. 

The Social Democrats leader plans to bring a Private Members’ Bill to the Dáil next week to introduce “easy” zero-tolerance measures against gender-based violence. 

She said there have been several incidents in recent times that indicate a need to crack down on sexual offences in particular. 

“There are so many things that need to be addressed,” she told The Anton Savage Show. 

“Our justice system isn’t really built to protect victims of crime – in fact, it often seems to compound trauma. 

“That’s reflected in the fact that only about 5% of people who experience sexual violence as an adult actually even report it. 

“This is without mentioning some of the outrageous practices we see in courts like people’s underwear being passed around, their counselling notes being used – you’d swear the victims were on trial.” 

Deputy Cairs noted women in unsafe domestic situations “cannot leave a violent situation if they have nowhere to go”. 

She said it is “not easy” to tackle domestic and gender-based violence in its entirety – but there are certain measures the State can take now. 

“It doesn’t seem like there’s enough urgency in relation to that,” she said. 

She said more organisations should regulate to prevent people with previous sexual offences from working there. 

‘Stuff of nightmares’

Deputy Cairns noted a taxi driver charged with raping two girls in his vehicle already had previous convictions for sexual offences. 

“Why did he have a taxi licence?” she asked. “Why didn’t the regulator act? 

“One of his victims obviously said that she thought she was taking the safe option – that’s what people are told to do, take a taxi, don’t walk home alone at night. 

“The thought that the two women could be getting into a taxi with a convicted sexual offender is the stuff of nightmares.” 

Bodies like the NTA should introduce rules that prevent them from taking on people who are a risk to women due to previous convictions. 

Cairns’ ‘zero-tolerance’ approach

Deputy Cairns said without measures like this, the Government is not taking a “zero-tolerance approach” to gender-based violence. 

“A taxi driver who’s a convicted sex offender being allowed to pick up women on their own is not a zero-tolerance approach,” she said. 

“Then we’ve got issues in the Defence Forces where we know that 68 members have been either convicted of crimes or before the courts. 

“We have professional bodies for dentists and counsellors that have been calling out for regulations and increased powers for years.” 

Deputy Cairns also praised women like Natasha O’Brien and Bláthnaid Raleigh for speaking out against violence and sexual assault. 

In response to an article by The Sunday Independent that claimed NDAs in the Social Democrats have a ‘chilling effect’, the party leader said the policy is under review – but GDPR and protecting people’s private information remains paramount.

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