Domestic violence was destroying thousands of lives across the European Union and effective services had to be put in place to confront a growing problem which affects women and children and sometimes men.

This was the view expressed by Independent MEP Marian Harkin when she spoke in the European Parliament on Wednesday, November 30th in the context of the international campaign against violence against women.

She said: “In Ireland we are currently in the middle of the 16 day campaign to highlight the issue of domestic violence.

“It is essential that domestic violence is confronted and that proper services are put in place because domestic violence destroys millions of lives – women , children and sometimes men, right across the European continent.

“Awareness raising is the first step and yesterday I had the opportunity to launch an exhibition of Artwork and Poetry run by the Donegal Women’s Domestic Violence Service with contributions from three local schools – St. Columbas, the Vocational School and Loretto College in Letterkenny in the North West of Ireland.

“A related issue and an important one for Ireland is the issue of Human Trafficking.  I am calling on our Taoiseach who was here today to immediately satisfy both the Council of Europe Convention on Trafficking in Human Beings and the United Nations Protocol on Trafficking in Persons because it has been assessed that Ireland is a transit and a destination country for trafficking in women and children and evidence suggests that organised criminal gangs are helping international traffickers establish trafficking routes in Ireland”, Marian Harkin MEP said.