April 2007 : DISAPPOINTMENT AT NEW AGENCY REMIT
When the new Government-sponsored agency COSC was launched two weeks ago by Justice Minister Michael McDowell it promised at first glance to offer a cohesive and co-ordinated response to violence against women. However, as further details emerged it soon became clear that the remit of COSC – the Irish Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence – was seriously restricted in its operation by its very name.
According to Yvonne Pim of the centre, the structure of COSC means that its work will be skewed towards domestic violence and many aspects of domestic violence against women will not be addressed - "we had great hopes initially that the Government was at last taking the overall issue of violence against women seriously and had managed to put together some joined-up thinking by linking the Gardai, Courts and Probation Service and the HSE together under the one roof to tackle the issue more effectively. Now we realise that this has been cobbled together quickly as part of its election strategy and a cynical exercise to make it seem as if they’re doing something meaningful. We have been beating on the Government’s door for years and nobody was listening. Suddenly there’s a Pauline conversion! We hope the electorate will not be hoodwinked into voting for the two present Government parties on the strength of this ill-thought out knee-jerk reaction to such an important issue in modern Irish society". |
