Women's Aid today declared the Irish court system is not doing enough to protect women who are the victims of domestic abuse as it highlighted statistics showing repeat offences.
Announcing details of Irish domestic abuse statistics for 2006, the charity said 70 per cent of court accompaniments provided by their service were repeat court visits.
The figures showed that after women had left an abusive relationship, many reported abuse inflicted when an ex-partner was picking up or returning children for access visits.
In these cases, the abuse was continuing despite the steps already taken by women - including separation and protection orders - to protect both themselves and their children.
Today's statistics also revealed there was a 29 per cent increase last year in incidents of child abuse. In 5 per cent of cases, child abuse occurred during access visits.
In one-fifth of cases, the abuser was the ex-husband or ex-partner of the child's mother.
Overall, 60 per cent of calls reported emotional abuse, 25 per cent referred to physical abuse and 5 per cent related to sexual abuse. Nearly 260 people were raped by their partners last year.
Almost half of the abuse disclosed took place in a current relationship - with marriage being the most common context for abuse. Thirty-one per cent of calls disclosed the husband as the perpetrator of abuse.
Speaking today, Women's Aid director Margaret Martin said she was heartened that so many people suffering domestic violence were using the charity's Freephone Helpline - 1800 341 900 - which is open 10am-10pm, seven days a week.
Ms Martin said the figures showed that domestic violence is still a huge problem in Irish society. "It is vital that child and woman protection are put at the centre of court decisions," she said.
Last year the charity responded to nearly 12,000 calls, and 98 per cent of callers were women. One-third of callers were from the greater Dublin area.