Children don’t have to witness an incident of domestic abuse to be impacted by it.
That’s the message from Hazel Graham, a local social worker with Tusla.
She’s been highlighting how the issue affects children as part of the ’16 Days Against Domestic Violence’ campaign on KCLR.
The organisation’s seen a rise in the number of child referrals during the pandemic.
Speaking with our Sue Nunn on last evening’s The Way It Is Ms Graham said “Domestic violence not only impacts the adult who’s the victim but really does impact on the child as well and their wellbeing and development so it doesn’t necessarily mean they have to witness it but they could hear it or see the aftermath so it could be the case where, you know, that they see that the house is turned upside down or that they see bruises on either parent, it could be on their mother or the father”.
She’s also calling for anyone who has concerns to contact them or local gardaí, saying “If it is a member of the public or family they can contact An Garda Siochana, they can contact their local station or 999 if they don’t have the number for the local station and also that they can make contact with Tusla as well, our dedicated point is in Clonmel and the number is 052 6177302”.
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IT’s asmore than 100 people have been prosecuted for domestic violence offences in the past six weeks.
There have been ongoing concerns about an increase in domestic violence because of Covid 19 restrictions.
Gardai set up a special operation earlier this year focusing on the victims of domestic violence during coronavirus restrictions.
Since the end of October, 110 people have been prosecuted for domestic violence offenses.
In total, 217 people have been prosecuted since April.
Gardai say they’ve made over 20,000 calls or attempted calls to victims of domestic abuse this year.
And there has been a 17% increase in calls for assistance.
Gardai are encouraging anyone who feels threatened or in fear to contact them saying they will respond quickly and vigorously.
