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'Think of all those voices desperate for help': Women's Aid helpline receives 41 calls a day

The service is now 24/7, due to increased demand.

WOMEN’S AID ANSWERS 41 calls every day via its helpline.

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone will officially launch the organisation’s 24/7 phone service today.

Women’s Aid, the national domestic violence support service, has answered an additional 1,957 calls since launching a night-time service in January. The service previously operated for 12 hours a day since its inception in 1992.

The free 24/7 service – which can be contacted on 1800 341 900 – will cost about €75,000 to run this year.

Women’s Aid’s state funding was cut by 20% last year, and the organisation called on the Government to fully resource the helpline.

Margaret Martin, director of Women’s Aid, said the demand of the extended service has been “phenomenal”.

“In the first six months of going 24/7, we have answered 1,957 calls in our out-of-hours night service.

Think of all those voices, desperate for help in the middle of the night and the early morning. Women who needed someone to answer the phone to them. Someone to listen, believe and support. We know there will be many more.

“Our resources were overstretched before we suffered funding cuts. However, we are determined to keep going, to keep answering the phone day and night.”

Martin added that Ireland “has an obligation to provide 24-hour specialist support to victims of domestic violence under the EU Victims Directive”.

The Violence Doesn’t Stop, We Won’t Stop 

The organisation will also launch its redesigned website and The Violence Doesn’t Stop, We Won’t Stop public awareness campaign today.

Martin said Women’s Aid’s website is visited an average of 460 times a day.

“We know that it is, for many women, a lifeline … We hope to extend that lifeline next year as we explore options of providing support online, via text or instant messaging.

Our staff and volunteers on the 24-hour helpline are supporting women who are afraid of their partners who have threatened to kill them, the kids or themselves. And their fears are founded on reality.

“In 2015, women disclosed to us on 970 occasions that their abusive partners threatened to kill them, their children and their families. There were 579 additional disclosures of assaults with weapons, threats with weapons and being strangled and smothered.”

Speaking ahead of the launch, Zappone said “We understand how difficult it is for women experiencing domestic abuse to talk about what is happening.

Many women are afraid that they will not be believed or that they will blamed for the abuse. Others struggle to find the words to describe their situation.

“All too often, women feel alone and isolated, unaware that help is available or unable to make sense of what is being done to them. Our campaign speaks directly to women in the hope they will call us.”

More information about the services offered by Women’s Aid can be read here.

Read: Victim-blaming culture makes it more difficult for women to get help

Opinion: ‘My partner was lovely at first, but things changed after we moved in together’

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49 Comments
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    Mute John Johnes
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    Apr 13th 2022, 12:19 PM

    My god do these people live in the same reality?

    Id love to see her singing the same song about climate nonsense if she would be on 30k a year needing to provide for her family renting out a house for 1.9k

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    Mute conriel
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    Apr 13th 2022, 1:44 PM

    @John Johnes: Well said If these people had to endure the pain they are enforcing on people the situation would be very different, This Government does not give a flying F*** IF a loaf of bread is 20 euro, they have made sure it wont effect them or their family or close friends. We’re is a downward spiral again and those with the so called experience are making life worse by the day, they simple do not have the intelligence and knowledge to run a country, God help us.

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    Mute Joe_X
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    Apr 13th 2022, 7:11 PM

    @both of ye.. ever think she is just reporting on the subject she is being paid for? It is like how ye give out about NPHET, but they were reporting on the subject they were being paid for, and government made the decisions.

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    Mute Darren Mc Mahon
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    Apr 13th 2022, 12:20 PM

    “Better balance” down the road perhaps but right now it’s a real struggle for those living in the real world.

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    Mute Michael McGrath
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    Apr 13th 2022, 2:05 PM

    The whole thing is a load of sheight anyway net zero. Net zero means we may still have the same carbon output but we have offset it by having more electric cars and windmills. In other words industrial carbon can remain the same but the plebs have to drive mad expensive electric cars, cycle or walk to work and retrofit their homes mostly at their own expense. Surely even the most ardent climate activist must see through the fact that all the measures are aimed at the small sinner rather than the large industrial abuser

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    Mute Dr. Emmett Lathrop Brown
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    Apr 13th 2022, 12:59 PM

    Agree with the goals, but for now, more RealLife™ advices would be good.

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