Gardai host Athlone conference on tackling gender-based violence
An Garda Siochána's National Protective Services Bureau hosted a conference in Athlone's Hodson Bay Hotel this week as part of a '16 Days of Activism' campaign aimed at addressing the issue of gender-based violence.
Around 100 delegates, representing more than 50 non-governmental organisations (NGOs), were in attendance at the conference yesterday (Wednesday).
The Gardai said the event was part of a commitment to consolidate new and established relationships with NGOs through transparency and the sharing of information.
The Garda National Protective Services Bureau (GNPSB) said it collaborates daily with NGOs in relation to joint enterprises, policy, victim response and education.
Speaking at the conference, Detective Chief Superintendent Colm Noonan of GNPSB said this would be the first of an annual series.
"This is our first annual conference where we invited our partners and colleagues across the NGO sector – those people that we work with hand-in-hand, on a daily basis, to try and ensure An Garda Síochána is best responding to victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
"We wanted this opportunity to let all of our partners hear about the work we do, to understand the complexities of what we do and to identify ways we can do all of that work better.
"The engagement was superb and it really will give us a solid foundation for building on those relationships, for guiding our future policies, future practices, and identifying gaps that we have to close in An Garda Síochána to consistently deliver the very best service to victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Noonan.
Deirdre Kenny, CEO of child sexual abuse charity One in Four Ireland, said: "It's been a really valuable day, to learn about the depth of work that the protective services do, the breadth of it, the complexity of it and also, most importantly, the sensitivity of it.
"Especially when it comes to the NGO sector, it's days like this that we get away from the front line and get to share our experiences and that’s just so valuable."
The day-long conference included panel discussions on topics such as 'Technology as a Weapon of Domestic Abuse', 'Exploitation in the Digital Age', and the 'Use of Technology as an Enabler of Human Trafficking'.
Representatives of the Garda National Domestic Abuse Unit, the Garda Síochána Online Child Exploitation Unit; and the National Child Protection Unit and Sexual Crime Management Unit were among those who addressed the conference.
On social media, Gardai shared a video from the event here: