Time to match words on domestic violence with action – Labour Women re-iterate call for inclusion of a Safe Fund in Budget 2027
Time to match words on domestic violence with action - Labour Women re-iterate call for inclusion of a Safe Fund in Budget 2027 - The Labour Party
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€3m fund would support victim survivors of domestic abuse (€1m per year over three years).
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Leading stakeholders in the sector, including Women’s Aid, the National Women’s Council and Safe Ireland, support the proposal and have joined the call for its inclusion in Budget 2027.
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1 in 3 women in Ireland experience physical, psychological or sexual abuse from an intimate partner.
Labour Women have today re-iterated their call for the inclusion of a Safe Fund to support victims of gender based violence in this year’s budget, at an event bringing together leading stakeholders, including Women’s Aid and the National Women’s Council.
Chair of Labour Women Hannah Deasy said:
“It’s time for the Government to match words with action. Zero tolerance is a laudable goal but without funding, it risks being empty rhetoric.
“Our Safe Fund is a practical, immediate solution.
“We are calling for a €3 million, non-means-tested fund which would provide direct financial support to survivors when they need it most, whether that is to leave an abusive home or to meet urgent essential costs safely.
“Existing supports are too slow, too complex, and too difficult to access in moments of trauma. This fund would deliver fast, flexible support through trusted services.
“This is a victim informed proposal that Women’s Aid are ready to administer. Providing funding for it in the Budget could have an immediate impact for women in grave danger.”
Speaking as part of a panel discussion on the Safe Fund, CEO of the National Women’s Council Corrinne Hassonsaid:
“Financial barriers are one of the biggest things preventing women from leaving abusive homes. This is especially true where there is financial abuse or coercive control and a woman has no access to her own income.
“In other countries, including the UK, fast, low-barrier cash support has made a real difference in helping survivors get out safely, and this is why we fully support Labour Women’s vital Budget 2027 ask.”
Christina Sherlock, Women’s Aid Head of Strategic Communications & Fundraising, said:
“Last year, contacts with Women’s Aid frontline services rose by 33% to over 62,000 and the nature of these disclosures is utterly appalling. Yet this is just the tip of the iceberg: one in three women in Ireland experience physical, psychological or sexual abuse from an intimate partner”
“Behind every one of those contacts is a woman and her children navigating fear, coercion and harm and this is often compounded by housing insecurity, financial strain and barriers within the justice system. Each disclosure represents serious harm done by someone they should have been able to trust.”
“Controlling someone’s access to money is one of the most powerful tools abusers use, and negotiating a path to safety is costly. It leaves women facing poverty and limited options, often with nowhere to turn but charitable services.”
“For years, our national emergency fund, funded entirely by our supporters’ generosity, has been lifesaving. But the State has a responsibility too: at the moment of crisis, financial support for basic needs and security upgrades must be available quickly and with dignity. We have the solution – The Safe Fund. Now we need the political courage.”
Leader of the Labour Party, Deputy Ivana Bacik said:
“The Public Expenditure Minister suggested to me in the Dáil on Wednesday that his Government is ‘considering’ introducing the Safe Fund in the upcoming Budget.
“He needs to do more than consider it.
“The Government’s Zero Tolerance strategy commits it to tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Labour Women’s Safe Fund offers one practical way to act on that commitment.
“In just six months, nearly 2,000 women were turned away from domestic violence services because there were no State-funded beds available.
“Too often, it is the person experiencing abuse who must leave the family home, while the perpetrator stays.
“A lack of support is making an already difficult decision harder. Survivors should not have to weigh their safety against whether they can afford a taxi, a new phone or a deposit on somewhere to live.
“For a woman leaving with children, those costs can be the difference between getting out and remaining in danger.”