Pringle: We must address the root causes of gender-based violence

By Thomas Pringle
Updated: 29th September 2023

Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, has welcomed the establishment of an agency to coordinate Government actions to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, and said it’s time to address the root causes of gender-based violence.

Addressing the Dáil on Thursday, Deputy Pringle said: “Nothing happens in a vacuum. The significant increase in the number of victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, particularly since Covid-19, is staggering and this has come following a rise of misogyny which is spreading and radicalising our young boys and men.

“We are facing a very serious crisis here. It feels like we, as a society, are going backwards. It seems like misogynistic views and language are used more frequently and are often deemed more acceptable today than 10 years ago. Sadly, I can think of multiple examples of gender-based violence and of misogynistic views gaining traction in the media in the past year alone. The rise of ‘alpha male’ mega-influencers and platforms facilitating male supremacist content and misogynistic views is very worrying.

“There is no doubt that this is contributing significantly to the prevalence of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in Ireland and across the globe. Disturbingly, 2022 was the deadliest year of the decade for women in Ireland. Despite the immense public outrage against gender-based violence following the murder of Ashling Murphy early last year, the death toll of women killed in violent circumstances in 2022 was the highest in 10 years,” he said.

He was speaking in support of the Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Agency Bill 2023, which would see the establishment of an agency with responsibility for coordinating Government actions to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. The deputy called it long overdue.

Deputy Pringle participated in the Justice Committee’s pre-legislative scrutiny, which involved organisations with expertise in the field, and said: “I was particularly glad that men’s organisations were involved in the discussions, as I feel it is extremely important that we are honest and proactive in addressing the root causes of this issue, which is most often men and toxic masculinity.

“Violence against women by men unfortunately accounts for most domestic, sexual and gender-based violence incidents. I raised the point that the need to specifically engage boys and men should be placed on a statutory footing in this legislation, to ensure efforts are taken to address the root causes of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and to implement prevention mechanisms.”

He said he was very disappointed with the Department’s response, that “It is not considered necessary or appropriate for the legislation to ‘single out’ men or boys in this manner.”

The deputy said: “We cannot expect women to fix this issue. The change has to come from men.”

Deputy Pringle said: “The agency should have a particular focus on engaging men and boys in an attempt to combat the rise of misogyny, and in particular digital misogyny. There have been numerous reports that show online incel culture and digital misogyny are on the rise and so the agency should be tasked with developing a programme aimed at engaging men and boys with a specific focus on how patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes are being spread via social media. Daire Dempsey, education officer at Transgender Equality Network Ireland, in response to this, said the online and social media factor is very important and that for prevention work to be relevant and make an impact, it must reach young people where it’s happening.

“I also raised my concerns at pre-legislative scrutiny regarding the reported rise in sexual assault among children nationally. There was a 50% increase in victims under the age of 16 in Donegal last summer, after which Donegal Rape Crisis Centre was forced to reduce the age of those who can access their services to 12.”

The deputy said: “Due to the significant rise in cases of victims under the age of 16, I believe there should also be a focus on the provision of services to victims under the age of 18, under the functions of the agency.”