Alcohol is involved in 71 per cent of cases of domestic violence, a Dáil committee has been told.
However Women's Aid said there was often a misconception that alcohol was the cause of domestic violence.
Margaret Martin, director of Women's Aid, said while there was a strong link between alcohol abuse and domestic violence, treating or dealing with the alcoholism did not stop the violence. Yet abusive men used alcohol as an excuse for their violence and abuse, and "judges continue to accept this in court".
She said alcohol greatly increased the risk to a woman and had clear links to increased severity in relation to physical and sexual abuse. She was addressing the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
She said when people were interviewed for a recent study on the links between alcohol and domestic violence, some 27 per cent said alcohol was always involved. Some 44 per cent said alcohol was sometimes involved.
She said women were more at risk from violence in their home than in the street, and one in five women experienced violence and abuse at the hands of a male partner. The problem affected people of all ages and all social classes. Pregnant women were at increased risk.
She said due to limited resources two out of every five calls to the Women's Aid helpline went unanswered in 2004.
Jimmy Deenihan, a Fine Gael TD on the committee, said this was "a very serious indictment of the system".
Ms Martin said there had been no increase in funding for frontline services working on violence against women since 2002. Women's Aid has to fundraise to collect half of the €1.5 million it needed to keep going every year.
She said two out of every five women and their children who sought refuge were not accommodated in 15 women's refuges surveyed in 2003.