Stigma over domestic violence led to undereporting - Kilkenny Live

Crime statistics relating to domestic violence continue to rise in Kilkenny and affected members of the public are being urged to report any incidents to gardaí.

At a recent meeting of the Joint Policing Committee members were told that, to date this year, there have been 319 incidents of domestic violence reported to gardaí in 2022 compared to 305 incidents during the same period in 2021.

A further breakdown of the figures show that there were 223 reported incidents in the Kilkenny Garda District in 2022 and 96 incidents in the Thomastown Garda District.

Councillor Deirdre Cullen described the rising numbers of reported cases as ‘worrying’ and encouraged the victims of this type of crime to continue to come forward to gardaí.

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“Domestic violence figures are up again, this happened during Covid and unfortunately they are continuing to rise,” she said.

“How can we respond to this to get the figures down? We want to see a downward trend. The cases are rising and this is very worrying.

“What can we do here locally in Kilkenny to encourage people coming forward?

“Coercive control is a silent crime that was under reported for so long,” she added.

Chief Superintendent Padraig Dunne described domestic violence as ‘a horrible crime’ adding that there has been a stigma around it for too long.

“Domestic violence is an incidious crime where the perpetrator preys on vulnerable people,” he said.

“In the Kilkenny garda division there is a Protective Services Unit which deals with domestic violence, sexual crime and coercive control. I think unfortunately the figures will continue to rise. I think that there was a stigma around domestic violence which was wrong,” he said, adding that the gardaí have ‘a pro arrest and pro charge policy’ in relation to this type of crime.