New Research: The connection between domestic violence and homelessness in Northern Ireland

The Women's Resource and Development Agency has published a new research paper. The connection between domestic violence and homelessness in Northern Ireland was originally presented as a masters thesis as part of an MSc in Social Policy in 2024. 

The research identifies aspects of domestic violence in NI which are specific to the jurisdiction such as a high rate of co-occurrence of alcohol and domestic violence crimes, underreporting to the PSNI, and the influence of paramilitarism both as an additional threat to domestic violence victims and, to a lesser extent, as an alternative source of justice. These features demonstrate the shaping influence the Conflict still exerts on the nature of domestic violence in NI a generation after the signing of the Agreement.

The core of the research is an intersectional feminist policy analysis of documents from the Health and Social Care Trusts, Housing Executive, and Stormont Departments. This analysis has identified three major barriers to better policy making; funding, gender neutrality, and a misunderstanding of Section 5 of the Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 which places a legal duty on anyone who knows or believes that a serious criminal offence has been committed to report this to the police. The research contends that these barriers are ideological and reflect misogynistic choices.

Read the full report