Announced by Minister Roderic O'Gorman on Tuesday, August 8, the measures, which will provide victims of domestic violence with five days of fully paid leave, have been welcomed as a good start by local social services charity, COPE Galway, but they say there is room for improvement.
The new form of leave will be introduced as part of the 'Work Life Balance Act' and will be formally introduced this autumn with the publication of regulations that are currently being developed by Women's Aid, which will define and detail the rate of pay and provide guidance for employers. Ireland will be one of the first countries in Europe to introduce such a scheme, though similar measures are available in Australia.
Speaking about the new measures, Head of Domestic Abuse Services for COPE Galway, Gillian McNamee, said, "Full pay is something that we, along with other domestic abuse services, have been calling for and writing to Minister O'Gorman about for some time. Many victims of domestic abuse experience financial abuse and many don't have access to accounts, or savings, which would help them.
"A small decrease in pay could be detrimental to those who are experiencing domestic violence. If the abuser is monitoring their income and notice any difference in pay, it can flag that something is going on which could jeopardise the victim's safety. To get full pay like they normally would, reduces this risk."
However, there are concerns that for those experiencing domestic violence, especially those fleeing or leaving their homes, five days leave is not enough time to try and rebuild or settle following cases of domestic violence.
"In our opinion, five days is not enough and already there are employers like AIB who provide staff with 10 days leave for those looking to leave an abusive relationship. For many who have not prepared in advance to leave the relationship, they have to get up and leave when they can and this means they may have no money, or no clothes and are in refuge but still have to go into work shortly afterwards. If they need further care, like going to the GP or Gardaí, five days is not enough time.
"Employers who are supporting a staff member who is a victim of domestic violence, providing an extra days leave if they need it, would be hugely helpful and there are lots that employers can do to help; such as changing the staff member's work number, or email, or hours they work, for example and having something like the domestic leave support in place is opening up dialogue within workplaces around the topic and looking at how best to support staff.
"For so many years domestic violence has been in the shadow and the victims are the ones who have to leave, move house or go into refuge. If the woman has children that means finding new schools and new uniforms. The victims are the ones who have to go to court. There is so much pressure on the victims of domestic violence and is time to shift that focus and pressure and put it on the abuser.
"The women who come through our doors are so strong, the image of domestic violence we see in media is not the reality, it takes so much strength to leave."
Alongside the measures, McNamee says it is time to make a real change and collectively try to end domestic violence in Ireland.
"While yes, men definitely can be victims of domestic violence, the rate of abuse at the hands of men is significant, even towards other men. There are supports out there like Men Ending Domestic Abuse (MEND ) by the Men's Development Network which are vital in allowing some men to question behaviours and actions in a safe environment to reflect and learn.
"Nothing will change if we don't bring men with us on the journey."
