Our approach is to:

• Change social behaviour and attitudes
• Establish a comprehensive response to domestic violence
• Cultivate leadership at all levels in Irish society
• Expand the evidence base of causes, prevalence and impacts of domestic violence so we can deepen our understanding of the complexities of the problem
• Communicate our understanding of the problem and enhance all our capacity to respond to it

Research

To be able to end domestic violence, we need to understand what causes it in the first place.

We also want to understand its impacts and how it affects communities. That helps to shape the response to it and prevent further violence. To do this, we listen to women’s voices through research and engaging with our member services.

Safe Ireland Publications

Inform public policy

We provide evidence-based guidance to the government, the private sector, other organisations and communities on:

• Policy and legislation
• Prevention strategies
• Programming and advocacy
• Improvement of services for women and children

Increasing capacity

We are dedicated to transforming how the whole system, including government departments and other services, respond to domestic violence. Part of achieving that is helping people to better understand the problem, its impact and how to respond to it.

We do this through training, public awareness campaigns, creating dialogue and encouraging creative and innovative thinking about the solutions.

Frontline services

Over the years, our purpose has evolved: our main focus is on creating the social change needed to end domestic violence. We continue to work closely with 37 frontline services, throughout Ireland, to achieve this. Together, we support the development and provision of critical lifelines to women and children.

Providing services for women and children

We also provide direct specialist domestic violence services for women and children including refuge. These services are primarily provided for women and children living in Mayo and surrounding counties.

Find out more about the Mayo Women’s Support Service.

Public awareness

Domestic violence is often a hidden crime. So, it is enormously important to publicly discuss it. We are working to mobilise communities for change to equip people with the skills and knowledge to help in both the response to and prevention of domestic violence.

Our Campaigns and Summit have also helped re-shape perceptions of domestic violence.

Primary Prevention

With experts and a building evidence base we are working to identify what drives and contributes to domestic violence. From this knowledge base we are testing scalable solutions to help create the conditions where abuse will be eliminated.

Strategic plan

Find our more about our work in our Strategic Plan 2015-2020 ‘Changing Culture and Transforming the Response to Domestic Violence in Ireland’ and in our Annual Reviews.