NGOs working in the area of violence against women have said they will not support the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence (Cosc) if it is established in its proposed form.
The new office was announced last month, as part of the Government's National Women's Strategy.
But in a statement yesterday, NGOs including the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Amnesty International and the National Women's Council of Ireland strongly rejected the new office, saying it had major shortcomings.
They said Cosc excludes NGOs and their years of experience working in the area of violence against women.
It fails to hold perpetrators accountable to the criminal justice system, the group said; and it fails to identify rape, sexual assault, trafficking, prostitution and pornography as violations.
It also sidelines the role of the Department of Justice in criminalising all forms of violence against women.
And it emphasises awareness-raising, which international practice has demonstrated to be "totally ineffectual" unless backed up by strong enforcement, the groups said.
CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Ellen O'Malley Dunlop, said the NGOs group wants an office for violence against women, but not one which focuses exclusively on domestic violence.
"The title implies the only kind of violence is domestic violence and it does not deal with the whole area of violence against women.
"Its establishment leapfrogs the whole consultation process and totally ignores 30 years of work in partnership with successive governments.
"It doesn't respond to what is needed, nor does it respond to what has been worked with on the national steering committee," she said.
She said the NGOs group could "definitely not" support the office, if it is set up in its proposed form, and she called on the Department of Justice to postpone any further development of the Cosc office and to meet with the National Steering Committee on Violence Against Women to review the name, remit and the role of the office.
A spokeswoman for the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Frank Fahey, who is responsible for issues related to violence against women, said tackling domestic violence needed to be a "key focus" of the new office, but it would not just deal exclusively with that issue.
"While the title of the office makes a direct reference to domestic violence, its remit will extend to the broader remit in relation to other forms of violence against women," she said.
"The department is currently undertaking a selection process to appoint the director of the new office. It is, of course, envisaged that there will be extensive consultations between the new director and the NGO sector," she added.
She said that the Minister would be happy to facilitate a meeting to discuss the sectors' concerns regarding the establishment and remit of the new office.
