Earlier today a new report on domestic violence highlighted how the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) prosecuted 612 people for the offence last year.2,000 people have been brought before the courts, charged with coercive control, according to freedom of information files.
The DPP opted to prosecute 629 people for the crime in 2021 - but only 252 two years earlier. Siobhan McKenna for Tearmann Domestic Services in Monaghan says that while progress is being made, there is a need now to focus on prevention when it comes to gender-based violence.
She also highlighted the importance of having the necessary supports in place when a woman being subject to domestic violence decides to change her situation. "When we look at the whole area of coercive control we know that it's a persistent and deliberate pattern of behaviour by an abuser over a long period of time.
"That is designed to achieve obedience and create fear; so that's keeping the woman in the position that he wants her to be in throughout the relationship. We have to think about what supports are there and how she can reach out to other people when the day comes that she decides to make a change," Ms McKenna added.
