Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said she will be introducing new laws around stalking and non-fatal strangulation in the coming weeks to make them standalone offences.
The Minister was giving a keynote address on combating domestic, sexual and gender-based violence at the Institute of International and European Affairs in Dublin this morning.
She said violence against women and girls is the major obstacle to achieving gender equality in Europe.
'It's 2022 and the major obstacle to #equality, not only in Ireland but across the world, is #violence against #women… We need to change our attitudes’ @HMcEntee speaking this morning at the IIEA pic.twitter.com/ydvyDk2XLP
— IIEA (@iiea) October 20, 2022
Ms McEntee acknowledged the importance of criminal legislation and said that the Government is increasing the maximum sentence for assault causing harm - one of the most common offences associated with domestic violence - from five to 10 years.
She said however that prevention is key in combating gender based violence and she was looking at new initiatives around consent, intimate image abuse and public awareness of victim's rights.
The Minister said that everyone must contribute and do our bit in our everyday lives to contribute to an environment where women and girls feel safe and protected.
Read more:
Stalking and non-fatal strangulation to become standalone offences
Victim calls for stalking to be made a separate crime
