Our Domestic Abuse Service
In 2021 COPE Galway support
696
Women and their children who experience domestic abuse.
117
Women admitted to refuge with 128 children
1,431
Outreach appointments (284 outreach clients)
40*
Play therapy sessions for 5* children
*successful early therapeutic
120
Court appointments for 110 women
Domestic Abuse Service in 2021
Domestic Abuse Service in 2021
2021 was another unfamiliar year in Galway, and indeed worldwide, with so many restrictions still in place. For the women in our lives who find themselves with an abusive partner, pandemics and lockdowns are not a cause of this abuse – they only make things worse.
Throughout this public health crisis, our service remained fully open, fully operational, and always available to the women and children who needed it.
Domestic abuse in a Rural Community
Domestic abuse knows no bounds; women from every corner of society can and are experiencing this abuse, in all its varying forms. Abuse can be easier to hide in rural areas as women are often more isolated. We have Women’s Support Workers in every part of Galway County. We meet in confidential, safe places to listen to their experience of domestic abuse. We look at supportive and workable options to keep a woman and her children safe in their own home. Where this is not possible, we have a 24-hour refuge to provide security and safety.
Meet Elizabeth
Meet Elizabeth
My life back then was awful. I just wanted to die. I would go to sleep at night and pray I would not wake up in the morning. It was like being in a washing machine and I could not stop the cycle and get out. I hated being in the house we built. I always called it my prison.“
Someone on the outside looking in would say I had an amazing life. My husband was always telling people what a wonderful wife he had and how lucky he was. Who would ever believe he was so awful to me?”
Solas Óg
Children and Young People’s Service
Our Solas Óg Children’s and Young People’s Service expanded its work from Modh Eile House into all corners of Galway during 2021. Our team, dedicated to children and young people, work with families who reside at Modh Eile House and families that are referred to the service by other professionals, either on-site or in a safe location in Galway city or county. In 2021, we supported 72 children and young people in an outreach capacity, as well as supporting the children residing at Modh Eile House (124 admissions).
The therapeutic approach taken by us with Solas Óg has led to a significant drop in referrals for play therapy, as we can see that early work can offset problems becoming more deeply seated.”
Working with our Community
The community throughout Galway city and county were tireless in their continuing efforts to support women during the pandemic restrictions. Local media shone a much-needed spotlight on the issue of domestic abuse so that women could know they were not alone, that our service was still open. Of perhaps greater value, media coverage of this topic helped women know that they were not imagining what was going on in their lives, that it was wrong – and that people cared.