Charity helped 160 women and children flee violence in Galway

Homeless charity COPE Galway provided refuge to 160 women and children fleeing domestic violence during the past year.

However, the housing crisis meant the charity was unable to accommodate 236 women and 270 children up to mid-December, according to the COPE Galway end of year report.

The charity said domestic violence continues to be “a very serious issue” for a large number of women and children across Galway.

John Concannon, Chairman of the charity said: “COPE Galway provided refuge to 76 individual women with 84 children who were fleeing from domestic violence at home in 2016.

“The housing crisis has affected our ability to accommodate all those who seek refuge. Due to the shortage of private rented accommodation within the rent caps, many women who wish to move on from the refuge are unable to do so.

“It is deeply worrying that so many women who are seeking refuge are unable to access safety at the time they need it most.

“This has resulted in the service being unable to accommodate 236 individual women with 270 children so far this year,” the report reads.

It adds that a further 212 women and 63 children availed of outreach and support services, with 667 appointments provided to women throughout Galway in 2016.

For the rest of this story, and statistics on homelessness in Galway in 2016, see this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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