Zero Tolerance, the Government’s Third National Strategy to combat Domestic Sexual & Gender Based Violence, was launched in 2022. Whilst the strategy contains much to be welcomed – including the establishment of a statutory agency under the Department of Justice – RCNI is concerned that there is no independent monitoring element included.
On Thursday 4 May, RCNI began a conversation on what an independent monitoring body could look like in the context of DSGBV. We asked if an Ombudsperson role, a rapporteur or some form of statutorily protected champion is desirable to inform our work across government activity combating DSGBV. To do this, we drew on the expertise of those who have experience in these various independent roles in Ireland: Dr Niall Muldoon, Ombudsman for Children, Professor Conor O’Mahony, former Special Rapporteur on Child Protection and Professor of Constitutional Law and Child Law at University College Cork and Emily Logan, Commissioner of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.
These three speakers feed into our knowledge on the key requirements of the role and what action can be taken to establish it legally and institutionally, exploring what independent monitoring means and how it works in practice and helping us towards the next steps in ensuring that today’s unprecedented determination to transform DSGBV is secured into the future through systemic mechanisms of transparency and accountability.
Watch the webinar here.
