700 turned away from domestic violence refuge

Nearly 700 women and children fleeing domestic violence were turned away from a refuge in Galway City last year.

The “very worrying” figure was underlined by the charity Cope ahead of International Women’s Day next week and in the wake of the election results which could stall any progress on dealing comprehensively with homelessness for some time.

The housing crisis is exacerbating the situation for women experiencing domestic violence in the west, explained Wendy Heuston, manager of Waterside House, domestic violence refuge and outreach services for Galway City and County.

Women fleeing violence are unable to get into the packed refuge, while women staying in Waterside House cannot move on to more suitable lodgings as there is a massive shortage of rental housing due to the rent supplement cap.

Waterside House has been at full capacity for some years. In 2014, 475 women and children were turned away, while 574 mothers and their offspring had to be referred elsewhere in 2013.

Last year 37 women who arrived in the middle of the night were put up with their children in the refuge’s sitting room on a couch and pull-out bed.

“In 2015, Waterside House could not accommodate 288 individual women with 405 children who were seeking refuge,” explained Wendy.

“We just don’t see the crisis improving. Housing is not coming on stream. The political uncertainty is horribly worrying. I don’t even see a solution being proposed around this.”

Women are generally referred onto refuges in Athlone, Castlebar or Limerick or given access to outreach services.

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune