Over 20,000 reports of domestic violence against women and children were made to Women's Aid in 2018.
In their annual report released today, the charity said there were 19,089 contacts with Women’s Aid Direct Services including the 24hr National Freephone Helpline and Dublin based One to One Support Services.
A staggering 16,994 disclosures of domestic violence against women were noted and an additional 3,728 disclosures of child abuse were also made (20,722 in total).
Women who had left a violent relationship were still at risk, with one in four women (27%) experiencing violence at the hands of a partner or a former husband.
Margaret Martin, Director of Women’s Aid, revealed that victims had been subjected to brutal assaults, including rape, strangulation, being beaten with weapons and their lives being threatened.
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She also detailed how women reported being financially and emotionally abused.
Ms Martin said: "Women told our confidential services that they had been isolated from family and friends, called derogatory names, had their lives and their safety threatened.
"Women disclosed that they were hit, beaten with weapons, stabbed and cut with knives and strangled.
"For some women they were beaten and strangled while they were pregnant.
"We heard from women that their partners had raped them, coerced them into sex, had prevented access to family planning and some had explicit videos and images made and shared online without their consent.
"Many women said that because of financial abuse they were being forced to choose between staying in an abusive relationship and facing poverty.
"Financial abuse disclosed in 2018 included partners running up debt in women’s names, women being denied access to the family finances and women’s salaries or social welfare being controlled.”
The charity answered a total of 15,835 calls (44 per day) to their 24hr National Freephone Helpline and also met face-to-face with just over 1,300 women in Dublin last year.
Victims reported suffering horrific physical assaults, resulting in broken bones and teeth, head injuries and internal injuries as a result of rape.
Others were experiencing depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress as a result of domestic violence.
Reports of domestic violence against children were also common and Ms Martin said the charity were "very concerned" by this.
Ms Martin added: “Domestic violence is a serious crime against women and children in Irish society but one that remains hidden and minimised.
"We are very concerned about the number of disclosures to Women's Aid of children being directly abused and exposed to domestic violence.
"In 2018, women told us on 3,729 occasions that their children were being hit, slapped, shouted at and called names, and in some cases, sexually abused.
"Children have been told they will be killed alongside their mothers. At times, the perpetrator of the abuse has deliberately targeted the children as a way to hurt both them and their mother.”
Women’s Aid can be contacted on their 24hr National Freephone Helpline 1800 341 900 and www.womensaid.ie.
