A women’s coalition on immigration launched in Dublin City Centre this afternoon, putting forward a new report warning of what it has described as changing patterns of sexual violence in Europe and urgent policy gaps in Ireland.
The 20-page thematic report entitled “Through a Safeguarding lens, darkly: a thematic report into the International Protection Provision in Ireland,” compares official data collated by domestic police forces and government departments of six European countries. The organisation said at the launch that the data shows an “overrepresentation of non-national men in sexual offence statistics, to argue that current policies are putting women and children at risk.”
The group said on Tuesday that it has identified “significant” shifts in the nature of sexual violence against Europe, highlighting “emergent trends in opportunistic street attacks and group-based sexual assaults.”
Barrister and women’s rights campaigner Laoise de Brún, who authored the report alongside journalist Barbara McCarthy, said that the findings raise urgent questions for Irish policymakers as the State continues to accommodate over 33,000 individuals in the International Protection system without screening them against European Crime databases.
The new organisation’s membership also includes general election candidate, campaigner and businesswoman Elaine Mullally, European election candidate and former Senior Counsel, Una McGurk, alongside Saggart Guardians spokesperson Tanja Alt.
The Women’s Coalition on Immigration was formed in response to growing concerns about the impact of immigration policies on women’s safety, child safeguarding and democratic accountability.
“Drawing on official statistics from multiple EU member states including Austria, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Italy and France, the report outlines clear evidence that foreign-born individuals are over-represented in sexual offence data, often by a factor of three to four, with even higher rates in specific subcategories such as gang rape,” said Ms de Brún.
Founder de Brún BL said: “The Government has yet to officially link immigration to an increase in crime and or indeed to sexual violence. In fact, there would appear to be a policy of downplaying this link evident in parliamentary debate and media reporting.
“However, the data doesn’t lie: migrant men are three to four times more likely to be represented in sexual offending statistics in six European countries. Factual analysis must trump political correctness lest public trust in our institutions be eroded. This was a key finding of the Louise Casey report into grooming gangs in the UK.”
The new Coalition today called on the Government immediately release all criminal statistics for sexual offences in this country disaggregated by country of origin and ethnicity “so that policy can be formulated on fact, not on wishful thinking or ideology.”
“The data from Europe is a stark warning that the safety of women and children is risked by current immigration policy specifically by the placing of international protection applicants in residential areas because these men are not screened via European crime databases,” the launch heard.
Journalist Barbara Mc Carthy, who is co-author of the report, commented:
“Across Europe, the nature of sexual violence is shifting: alongside traditional patterns of offending, we are now seeing a marked rise in opportunistic street attacks and group-based assaults, often involving multiple perpetrators acting together in public spaces.
“This report breaks new ground by confronting the changing patterns of sexual crime in Europe from stranger assaults to group-based offending – and by insisting that Ireland can no longer operate without disaggregated, transparent data. We cannot respond effectively to evolving risks if we refuse to measure them honestly.”
Tanja Alt, spokesperson for Saggart Guardians – a women-led group of Citywest residents campaigning against the IPAS in their village, said today that “our female members and concerned parents have long warned of the risks associated with The Citywest Hotel, we have shown through freedom of information the residents have consistently been found with drugs and weapons since the IPAS contract began.”
“Still, The Dept of Justice has not engaged with us on any additional safeguarding for our community. In October this year our worst fears were realised when a vulnerable child was the victim of a horrendous alleged attack,” Ms Alt said.
“There must be accountability for this incident, for the fear women and parents feel everyday living near this centre. This is what we are fighting for, accountability for what has happened, and assurances no other child or woman will be at risk or feel unsafe in our community or anywhere in Ireland.”