Police Ombudsman’s Irish Times op‑ed addresses DSGBV and policing oversight

In an opinion piece in The Irish Times, Police Ombudsman Emily Logan documented how Fiosrú is operating in the context of a wholly new and expanded level of statutory accountability in policing oversight.

Fiosrú is only one actor in a wider criminal justice system that is paying increased attention to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence through a range of initiatives contained in Ireland’s Third National Strategy on DSGBV.

Recent convictions of former serving gardaí for crimes of abuse against their female partners reflect wider patterns of gender-based violence within society. Both the World Health Organisation and the United Nations report a continued increase in the global prevalence of violence against women.

More optimistically, they also report a positive reduction in rates of domestic violence in countries that legislate on intimate partner violence, as opposed to those without such legislation.

“It would be naïve to think that Ireland’s police service is somehow immune to global trends when it comes to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence or abuse of power. Working in cooperation with An Garda Síochána and other state agents, we need to understand not only the risks and the societal context in which gardaí operate but also the multiple barriers within the criminal justice system facing victims-survivors when it comes to reporting their experiences.

“Our gardaí are granted extraordinary lawful powers beyond the reach of ordinary citizens and it is paramount that they exercise those powers in a way that ensures public trust in their important public service. Fiosrú’s new and high level of accountability is another important element of the State’s commitment to zero tolerance when it comes to DSGBV.”

To read the full article on The Irish Times, please click here. (The article is behind a paywall).