Domestic, sexual gender based violence services. Working report on 2015 services, activities and use: towards evidence informed services.
Tusla Child and Family Agency has a statutory mandate around care and protection to victims of domestic, sexual and gender based violence. In fulfilling this mandate and in line with the Tusla Corporate Plan which sets out to design and deliver supportive, coordinated and evidence informed services that strive to ensure positive outcomes for children, families and communities' we need to ensure that the Agency and its partners, have a shared and well developed understanding of service user needs. This Working Report is the first output from Tusla presenting data from Tusla funded specialist services for victims of domestic, sexual and gender based violence in Ireland. The report sets this data in the context of some of the messages emerging from other sources of information. Although the data here does not tell the full story of the adults, children and families who have experienced the trauma of violence in the home and sexual violence, the figures indicate the large number of victims and survivors who sought and received support in 2015 from specialist domestic, sexual and gender based violence services across the country. Thirty seven organisations provided data on the number of people who availed of these services in 2015. Information provision, as a distinct service, was provided to over 10,000 people. Face to face support services were provided to over 7,000. This included support with safety needs; emotional, practical, crisis management and tenancy/housing support; and supports dealing with substance abuse. Outreach supports, which involve a variety of activities, reached over 4,200 people in 2015. Adult counselling was provided to 2,306 people by sexual violence services and to a further 547 by domestic violence services. Support groups were provided to 500; group programmes to 111; and education and training to 259 service users. Other programmes, such as family and friends groups; drop in sessions, and linking with other agencies, were availed of by 678 people.