Unanswered calls rise at Women's Aid helpline

Two out of every five calls to a domestic violence helpline run by Women's Aid go unanswered because of a lack of resources, figures revealed today.

The figures were contained in details of calls made to the helpline during 2004. They show that of the 19,901 calls made to the service last year, 7,754 could not be answered. This marks an increase of 30 per cent in unanswered calls on the previous year.

Speaking today, Margaret Martin, Director of Women's Aid, said she was heartened that so many experiencing domestic violence were availing of the helpline but expressed grave concern that so many calls remained unanswered.

"While the number of calls being made to the service is increasing, our ability to respond remains the same. We do not have the resources to fully respond to the demand," she said.

"Some of those calling us are in urgent need of assistance. It is unacceptable that we cannot respond due to lack of resources. In order to fully ensure that we are capable of responding to all calls, it is vital that volunteers keep coming forward, and that statutory funding of the Helpline is increased," she added.

Physical abuse accounted for 30 per cent of the calls made to the helpline, with a significant number of women reporting an escalation in violence during pregnancy.

The majority of the calls (50 per cent) refer to emotional abuse, with 9 per cent relating to sexual abuse. A total of 368 rapes were reported to the service during 2004.

Economic abuse accounted for 11 per cent of the calls. This included not being allowed access to work, partners refusing to reveal income and forcing women to manage the household on a small allowance, and women not being allowed to shop for personal items.

More than half of the abuse reported took place in a current relationship, and 38 per cent of callers named their husband as the perpetrator of abuse. Almost one fifth of abuse (19 per cent) was perpetrated by ex-husbands or ex-partners.

The figures also show almost half of the calls (49 per cent) came from people contacting the service for the first time; 98 per cent of those calling the helpline were female.

The Women's Aid helpline is open from 10am to 10pm, seven days a week on 1800 341900.