Cork needs more refuge spaces, says domestic violence charity
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A Cork charity working with domestic violence victims says there is a need for new refuge spaces, with 165 new women coming forward for help this year.
Mná Feasa, which launched a re-brand of the organisation on Monday, also says that it has seen an 8% increase in the number of interventions made this year, now at 1,517. These include court accompaniment, counselling and helpline interactions.
Interactions had already increased from 1,373 in 2022 to 1,450 last year.
Team leader at Mná Feasa, Barbara O’Driscoll, said: “We have 165 new women this year alone. They come from all over the city and some from the county as well — as far away as Charleville and Fermoy.”
Ireland currently has 162 refuge spaces across the country, according to a recent reply by the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, to a parliamentary question. An increase in refuge spaces is a must, according to Ms O’Driscoll.
She said: “We've only two refuge places in Cork - that would be Edel House and Cuanlee. Every time we ring them when we have women come to us in dire straits and we need somewhere, they are full. There definitely needs to be something done with more refuges and safe places in Cork.”
Ms O’Driscoll said victims of domestic violence are slow to come forward for reasons such as a fear of negative legal outcomes, financial insecurity, and concerns for their children’s welfare.
She added: “Without the support to navigate it, too many are forced to drop out of the court process, leaving them even more vulnerable. Through our new visual rebrand and expanded outreach, we hope to give more women the confidence to know that help is here, and they’re not alone.”
Founded in 1981, Mná Feasa is a Community Action Project of the Cork Anti Poverty Resource Network.
The network’s chairman, Michael O’Connell, said: “It's a very serious situation that requires active support by government. I think we do get support but there is always the need for more support I think and we'd like to reach further into the community if we can.
"To do that we need greater support and this re-launch is part of a re-brand to make ourselves more available to the women who need us, that we are there on a better online presence.
"You know the younger generation now look to online support and we’d like to provide that. We do provide some of it. We'd like to provide more of it.”
He thanked Johnson Controls in Cork City for taking on the re-branding challenge and would welcome further support from the private sector.
Speaking at the event, one of the founders of Mná Feasa, Máire Dorgan, said that stories of violence against women are being heard every day through the media.
She said: “We need to look at a collective analysis and understanding in what is it about the way we organise ourselves that one half of the population is afraid of the other half.”
She stressed that the reality is that only a small number of men are violent and that it is “awful” for men in society that women are afraid.
She added: “There is something about power and control — women were taught to be second-class citizens. Nobody wants to be first-class. All we want is to be equal.”
Mná Feasa can be contacted at 021-4211757 and details are available on mnafeasa.com.