‘A welcome change . . . but early days’: Irish Service Provider Perspectives on Domestic Abuse and the Domestic Violence Act 2018
| Published date | 01 November 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/17488958211067912 |
| Author | Stephanie Thompson,David M Doyle,Muiread Murphy,Rosemary Mangan |
| Date | 01 November 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/17488958211067912
Criminology & Criminal Justice
2023, Vol. 23(5) 754 –772
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/17488958211067912
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‘A welcome change . . . but
early days’: Irish Service
Provider Perspectives on
Domestic Abuse and the
Domestic Violence Act 2018
Stephanie Thompson, David M Doyle ,
Muiread Murphy and Rosemary Mangan
Maynooth University, Ireland
Abstract
This article is an exploratory study of service provider perspectives on the impact and
effectiveness of the recently commenced Domestic Violence Act 2018 in Ireland. Drawing on 22
semi-structured interviews with domestic abuse organisations, and a review of both national and
provincial newspaper sources, the article highlights the challenges facing domestic abuse service
providers in Ireland and identifies key areas in need of reform. The research was conducted
during the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic, and as such, provides a unique insight into the
experiences of frontline service providers, and the victims that availed of their services, during
the public health crisis.
Keywords
Coercive control, COVID-19, domestic abuse, domestic violence, Domestic Violence Act 2018,
Ireland
Introduction
This article examines the impact of the Domestic Violence Act 2018 (2018 Act) in prac-
tice since its commencement in January 2019. The analysis is novel as it is the first to
review the effectiveness of the provisions of the 2018 Act from the perspective of both
male and female domestic abuse service providers. The study was conducted in the
Republic of Ireland (hereafter referred to as Ireland) across 16 different counties and
Corresponding author:
David M Doyle, Associate Professor of Law, Maynooth University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland.
Email: david.doyle@mu.ie
1067912CRJ0010.1177/17488958211067912Criminology & Criminal JusticeThompson et al.
research-article2022
Article
Thompson et al. 755
provides ‘on the ground’ perspectives from 22 different services (equating to over half of
all providers currently delivering domestic abuse support nationwide). As such, the find-
ings of this research are multifaceted in nature and reflective of the experiences of a
substantial cohort of service providers in both urban and rural Ireland.
The study was conducted remotely during the COVID-19 global pandemic and is
timely in that it provides an insight into challenges faced by domestic abuse service pro-
viders during the ongoing public health crisis. On this basis, the article is divided into six
parts. The first section discusses the new offence of coercive control, recent prosecutions
and service provider perspectives on the impact of the new offence. The second section
considers the removal of the cohabitation requirement for Safety and Protection Orders.
This is followed by an exploration of the response of An Garda Síochána (Irish police) to
reports of domestic abuse and the enforcement of the 2018 Act provisions. The fourth
section examines the suitability of the Irish courts for cases involving victims/survivors
(hereafter referred to as ‘victims’) of domestic abuse and reflects on recent legal develop-
ments which change the methods available to victims giving evidence in court. Section
five ‘Policing domestic violence and abuse and responses by An Garda Síochána (Irish
Police)’ critically investigates the current situation in Ireland with regard to refuge and
resources for domestic abuse services and the impact of the housing crisis on the provision
of safe accommodation. Finally, this study provides an overview of the public, govern-
mental and organisational response to domestic abuse during the current public health
crisis, with a particular emphasis on the recently implemented measures designed to sup-
port and protect victims.
Methodology
This study involved three data collection methods, namely qualitative interviews, news-
paper archives, and secondary sources. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with
22 domestic abuse service providers throughout Ireland. Purposive sampling was
employed and the participants were recruited on the basis of their extensive practical
experience of assisting victims of domestic violence. Participants were originally selected
from a list of services published on the Safe Ireland website, with 17 of the interviewees
derived from this source. The duration of the interviews varied between 30 and 70 minutes
and all participants were female. This is likely due to the fact that domestic violence and
abuse service provision are a female-dominated sector. In 2012, Women’s Aid reported
that the presence of male staff can hinder the recovery and empowerment of victim/survi-
vors (Davidge, 2012). The reasoning behind this is that domestic violence and abuse is a
gendered issue rooted in power imbalance and inequality between men and women. Thus,
the intimate nature of the relationship between service provider and victim means that this
imbalance may arise in relation to male support workers regardless of their personal views
or behaviours. As a consequence, some believe that service provision should be delivered
by females in order to limit female victims exposure to possible gender imbalances during
the recovery process (Davidge, 2012).
Interview requests were sent to a total of 40 organisations, but 18 chose not to partici-
pate or were unable to do so. Accordingly, it must be acknowledged that the perspectives
of the interviewees in this study may not necessarily be representative of the experiences
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