Majority in Offaly feel unsafe in public spaces at night, report finds

One third of women in Offaly who have been harassed in public in the last five years due to their gender experienced the abuse from an ex-intimate partner.

That's one of the main findings of a report on Gender-Based Violence in Public Spaces presented to the Offaly Joint Policing Committee this afternoon.

All 36 of 137 respondents to an online survey, completed as part of report, who said they had reported experienced gender-based harassment were women and 12 of these women said the harasser was an ex-partner.

The report is the conclusion of the work of a subgroup of the Joint Policing Committee, chaired by Cllr Mark Hackett. It was initiated following the murder of Ashling Murphy while she went for a run along the Grand Canal towpath in Tullamore.

Two surveys were conducted as part of the subgroup’s work; one was online and the other one conducted during town ‘walkabouts’ in Birr, Tullamore and Edenderry on ‘Offaly Safety Day” in June. In total 335 responses were recorded.

The final report makes 13 recommendations to increase safety from gender-based violence in public spaces.

The report found that while the majority of respondents to the public consultation felt safe in public spaces in Offaly during the daytime, the level of fear and experience of gender-based violence and harassment is not experienced equally.

Women and members of the LGTB+ community reported the lowest sense of safety, and were most likely to change their behaviour as a result.

Other groups identified as being at risk were the elderly, ethnic minorities including Travellers and those who had experience of intimate partner abuse.

The majority of respondents did not feel safe in public spaces at night.

Among the 13 recommendations was that a working group be set up to apply to extend the CCTV system in Tullamore to the greenway/canal line amenity and public space.

It is also proposed that Offaly County Council work with Gardai at the design stage of public amenities and when interacting with developers to help 'design out crime'.

An campaign to raise awareness in Offaly on what stalking is and what to expect when it is reported to Gardai is also proposed.

All Offaly County Council staff, all councillors and all members of the Joint Policing Commitee are to undertake awareness training in domestic violence and awareness training on Traveller culture.

The report also recommended that an existing initiative, operated by Offaly Domestic Violence Support Services and Totalhealth pharmacies, to provide a safe space to receive information and to make a call to a domestic violence service, be supported to enable it to be extended to all pharmacies in Offaly and any other businesses.

Minister Pippa Hackett  described the findings of the report as “disturbing”.

She said: “Focusing first on the positive; this report shows us that, during the day, most of us feel safe from gender-based violence in our public spaces in Offaly. But women and members of minority groups like LGBT+ or Travellers are more likely to feel unsafe and to change their behaviour. This inequality is magnified at night.”

She said she was surprised and horrified that one in three of the women who said they had experienced gender-based harassment in public amenities within the last five years was an ex intimate partner.”

“This brings the need for a dedicated refuge space in Offaly into sharp focus yet again and I will continue to work with Government colleagues on this. I welcome the progress on ‘Safe Home units’ to accommodate victims of domestic abuse in the community with one in each of the Municipal Districts of Offaly on track to come into operation in the coming months. But a refuge is needed urgently,” Minister Hackett said.

“I particularly welcome the report’s recommendations focused on improving access to safe spaces for those experiencing Domestic Violence: Extending the safe pharmacy scheme and delivering awareness training for all Offaly County Council staff and elected representatives. These are small but significant steps.”

Chair of the sub group, Cllr Mark Hackett said: “I was heartened to see from the survey results that the majority of Offaly people feel safe in our public spaces. That is good news but not surprisingly, it became obvious very quickly, from the same survey responses, that fear and experience of gender-based violence and harassment are not experienced equally: Women and members of the LGBT+ community had the lowest sense of safety from gender-based violence in public spaces.”

Regarding harassment of women by ex partners, Cllr Hackett said: “I believe we need to press home the zero tolerance approach and challenge this on all levels: I hope we have covered this as comprehensively as possible in our recommendations.

Superintendent Ollie Baker, a member of the subgroup, said “As repeated many times during the consultations leading to this report, the greatest risk of gender-based violence is not from a stranger in the public realm, it's in what should be the security of our homes, from people known to us and often intimate partners. I welcome the recommendations which reference building of awareness in the area of intimate partner abuse and the development of ‘safe spaces’.”

Cllr Hackett said: “Recommendations are only as good as the commitment to their implementation. We are handing this report and recommendations over to Offaly Joint Policing Committee and Offaly County Council in good faith that the safety of women, girls and all at risk of gender-based violence in the public spaces of Offaly will improve as a result of this work.”

Superintendent Baker concluded: “I would like to reassure the people of Offaly that this is, generally, a safe place to enjoy our many public amenities without fear of gender-based violence or harassment. I believe that the recommendation on establishing an interagency working group to progress CCTV systems is an important step in providing peace of mind for the many who enjoy the Grand Canal Greenway.”