Irish Women in Harmony for Safe Ireland: An interview with Safe Ireland

The Irish Women in Harmony cover of 'Dreams' has barely been out a week, and already it has surpassed one million views. A member of the Safe Ireland organisation – which the single aids – was kind enough to sit down with Hot Press to explain exactly what the organisation aims to do, and why it's so important that we support survivors of domestic abuse in the community.

What was your initial reaction when you saw the video of the 'Dreams' cover?

I just started crying. It's a very beautiful version of a beautiful song. For whatever reason, I thought there would only be a couple of singers. When I saw the line up, I was blown away! And MCD, Caroline Downey and Caroline Henry with her, have been great champions for Safe Ireland. So we're very delighted to see such a line up of wonderful, talented women.

And what does it mean for you when people with the kind of platform that these musicians – and MCD – have get behind you?

Well it's hugely helpful. Safe Ireland is the national body, but we collaborate with all the domestic violence services around the country. There's 39 of those. What we're trying to do is work with those organisations to bring voice and visibility to the issue of domestic violence. Domestic violence is still one of the most under-reported, undocumented and un-prosecuted crimes in Ireland. We still have the stigma of shame and silence around it. When you see these very powerful women doing something like this for Safe Ireland, it really is that they are doing it for these women who are experiencing domestic violence. It says to women that 'we care'. And really, at the end of the day, we know when women come forward and they seek help that it's a critical time. They need to be met with 'I believe you, what's happening to you is wrong, and we care'. So for something like this, it's never about the money. It really is about visibility. It is about saying 'look at these champions that we have now'. And it brings us to the likes of Hot Press, which is a very important and vital platform as well, to be able to say 'this is who we are'. Voice and visibility is critical here in Ireland to us addressing this issue.

How dire is the issue itself?

Generally, in Ireland, we have about ten and a half thousand women who seek support from domestic violence services every year. With them, they have about three thousand children. What we do know from research carried out specifically here in Ireland is that 79% of women don't report. What we know is that we're dealing with the tip of the iceberg. And 10.5 thousand is a huge figure on its own.

That's very frightening. And what about during the Coronavirus?

I recall the Taoiseach last year going to visit a refuge in Dublin, and he spoke about the epidemic of domestic violence in this country. What has happened with the Coronavirus is that the epidemic has met the pandemic. And the pandemic required us all to be locked down at home, so this was the perfect storm. The first week of lockdown, we were seeing a lot of women contacting services. And then a week after, the lines went silent. It terrified us, really, because we knew the COVID lockdown was making it worse. We're talking about very extreme cases of control, here. I speak to the 37 managers of the services around the country twice a week on zoom just to contingency plan with them to see where things are at. I remember one of the first meetings when we talked about the lockdown and when we were trying to reconfigure – we lost 25% of our refuge capacity immediately because they were communal refuges. Women would have to share bathrooms, so we had to re-house women in those refuges as a matter of urgency because we understood they were sites of transmission. And without any support from government we had to do this. It just felt enormous. We saw the lines very quiet around the country. Now, they're getting very busy. I suppose what we're seeing right now is that services right around the country are full and sometimes women and children can find housing locally. So I think when everything starts to calm down in the country, we will probably have an influx of women and children fleeing.

The thing you have to keep in mind is that kids get no respite from this. They used to go to school and have places to give them a break from the house. They're in lockdown now with no respite. And what we need to understand is that domestic violence isn't just witnessed by children. Domestic violence is child abuse. What we're experiencing is that the women who are coming forward are looking for support for their children, because the children are deeply traumatised by the whole thing.

And I'm eighteen years in this job, and no government has successfully tackled this issue, ever. We're lobbying to see significant changes in any new government that comes forth, because what we're offering women is below standard. I have to say I take my hat off to the frontline workers in domestic violence services. They've been extraordinary. They've turned up every day, and they are actually saving lives, you know? And they're committed beyond belief. We actually need more resources, to be able to provide the levels of service.

We have to understand that an abuser doesn't just control a woman and her children. He controls all the systems around her, including the legal system. And I feel, personally, that when women come forward we should be apologising to them. We should be sorry that this has happened in our communities, our country. We should be able to wrap the support that they need around them so they are able to reach that place of freedom. And we don't do that. We fall very far short of meeting women and children's needs when they come forward. And that is a big problem.

Do you mean "we" in terms of the country as a whole?

Yes. Safe Ireland's mission is to make Ireland the safest country in the world for women and children. We want to rear a generation of children without this violence, because we believe that it could change the world. But every single one of us has a role to play if we're to get there. In these times, we're asking communities to take up that role. They have a role to be her voice when she doesn't have one, to reach in when she can't reach out. This single by RuthAnne and all her wonderful colleagues is a real reach in to women.

And what can community members and laypeople do to help a) your organisation and b) if they suspect that something is going on?

I think as a society, we have to take it out of the shadows. We have to start talking about it. If you're concerned about a family member or whatever it may be, contact one of the domestic violence services. People think that the domestic violence services only work with women who experience violence, but they also work with the families and communities. They can advise and point you in the right directions.

What we know - and this is a very conservative figure from the government - is that violence against women costs the government €2.2 billion annually. Now, surely to God, if we invest in prevention we'll save money. Even though that's kind of a harsh way to look at it, preventing domestic and sexual violence saves money. What we've tried to do for decades hasn't worked because there's been a deep fragmentation in the government response. The only way to get around this is to name a minister, resource a department with that minister, and bring outside expertise in to that department so they can do the work they need to do. And we need leadership at every level - in the community, in our families - but certainly at a governmental level. I started saying publicly a year ago that what we're doing is no longer working. And people were looking at me and saying "you can't say that", and I was like, 'of course I can.' I'm eighteen years in this job, I know it now. It's not going away. We have thousands on thousands of women coming forward every year. And we're a great country! We can mobilise artists like this.

And all these artists and community people coming in with 5 euro have made that fund possible. We are a great country, and I know for a fact that there is a groundswell of support for this issue in communities. People don't want it on their watch. And I think that's what the government had better listen to. Because if the government can do something or invest something in this issue, it will be approved by us. So I remain hopeful, but it's a tough place in which to work. I just think we have to want more. We have to look at the society we want to build together.

• Text SAFE to 50300 to donate €4 to Safe Ireland.

Watch 'Dreams' below.