Public Speaking

Hello. My name is Leah Kavanagh. Today I will be discussing

Domestic violence and Abuse.
By definition domestic violence is: Acts of violence or abuse
against a person living is one’s household, especially a member
of one’s immediate family.

Now I chose this topic due to its utmost importance, especially

during these times through Covid 19. 11% of the Irish
population have experienced a pattern of abusive behavior with
actual potential or severe impact. These numbers have only
increased during the lockdowns by a further 25% compared to
last year. I chose this as I find it necessary to become aware of
now more than ever.

The 4 most recognized types of Domestic Violence are:

emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect.
When it comes to emotional abuse, some people are not aware
they are receiving domestic abuse as it does not involve acts of
violence. This can have such a long-lasting affect on individuals.
It can include insults and attempts to scare or isolate you.
Physical Abuse can include being spat on, being punched,
slapped, beaten and more.
Sexual abuse someone forcing sex on you against your will.
Neglect is when a person is not provided with enough food,
water, care and clothing.

While researching this topic, I was able to come across some

brave survivors of domestic violence coming forward and
sharing their experiences. I decided to share Katie's story. (Slow)
Her parents severely neglected, emotionally and physically
abused her from about 18 months old. This included being hit
with items like shoes and being dragged down the stairs. Her
dad even broke her arm twice. Her first intimate partner was
extremely abusive. He raped her and attempted to murder her.
When she gave birth to their child he started on her too. When
the baby was 10 months Katie tried to run from him, but he
clocked onto her plan and stopped it. One day while he was out,
she locked the doors from the inside so he couldn’t enter. He
physically kicked the door down, beat her and knocked the baby
unconscious. The police only arrived the next day, in which he
had already fled. The police recommended a custody
arrangement. 3 years later she returned to the town thinking it
would be safe, but he tracked her down. His last incident was
when he showed up at her daughters' school, drunk with the
intention of taking her.
I chose this story as I thought it was one of the scariest, I had
come across. I can't even begin to imagine the emotional torture
she must have experienced during these times. Like thousands of
others in her case domestic abuse was unavoidable, this is why

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we need to become more aware of the signs of domestic
violence so we can help more victims like this early on.

Looking into this topic I interviewed my auntie who is a

sergeant in child protection in Tallaght. I asked her what she
thought of domestic abuse and she immediately told me to look
into coercive control.
This is a persistent pattern of controlling, coercive and
threatening behavior, including all forms of domestic abuse- by
a boyfriend, partner, husband or ex. It traps women into a
relationship, making it impossible or dangerous to leave.
This can include signs of feeling isolated, being deprived of
basic needs, your online activity being monitored, having every
aspect of your life being controlled, being humiliated, degraded
or dehumanized, having your finances controlled an having your
private information published.
To put this into perspective of how real and serious this is in
Ireland, there was a case just released on November 11th 2020.
The jury returned verdicts of a man guilty on 12 charges of
coercive control, intimidation and assaults resulting in great
harm. He committed coercive control by burning his partner
with a cigarette bud, cutting her neck with a pizza slice and
more acts of emotional and physical abuse. It got so bad that she
even feared to leave the house.
Before seeing this case I always believed I would be strong in a
situation of domestic violence and would be able to leave. I now

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understand that it is not so straight forward. That woman face
years of brainwashing, manipulation, and abuse to a point where
they are literally trapped in their relationship and see no way
out.

Upon my research I looked for information, statistics and

stories. I couldn’t help but notice that the majority of these were
aimed towards women. I was mainly being shown percentages
of women who faced domestic violence and rarely males. I
questioned why this was, but couldn’t seem to come to a
conclusion, so I decided to look into it. Many men feel great
shame that they are a victim to domestic abuse or that they have
been unable to stand up for themselves. So they are less likely to
report it.
I came upon a news headline that read; “Montana woman with
Machetes hides behind ex-boyfriends' door and forces sex on
him”. Notice how it didn’t state; “she raped him”. This
almost makes her seem more innocent than she is. It is cases
like these that would make men less likely to speak out. It makes
it seem like domestic abuse faced by women is worse than that
faced by men, although this is far from true.

In conclusion, now more than ever, domestic abuse is growing

to be a more prominent issue during this Covid pandemic. It is
vital that everyone ensures they are educated on the signs of
domestic violence and are always looking for them amongst

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their friends and family as domestic abuse occurs much more
than people may think.
Thank you for listening, and I hope this speech helped you
become more aware of the very important issue that is domestic
violence.