The fact that women are expressing a range of unmet needs, identified in our
recent research, indicates that, despite the beginnings of new initiatives and
approaches which service providers have put in operation in the greater Dublin
area, an acute gap remains between where services are working to re-orient
themselves and where women are actually left dealing with Violence in the Home.

It is clear that the two principles of Violence in the Home guaranteeing a woman's
safety and of enhancing her range of options for the decisions she must take, have
yet to become a reality for many women.

Indeed, even those women who come to Aoibhneas see the decision-making
and actions they have taken in coming to the refuge diminished because of
lack of follow-on statutory support in respect of housing, legal support, and
support for children.

The emerging models of new practice in Ireland, Britain and elsewhere,
which were reviewed as part of the research, emphasise the following developments:

• Training in Advocacy and Safety Planning with women
• Multi-agency initiatives
• Pro-active Policing procedures
• Law and Court Procedures
• Refuges for women with Special Needs
• Community-based Advocacy Services
• Working with Men
• Information Telephone Lines, Link-lines, and One-stop Shops

What the review demonstrates is the great scope for further development of
all the community's responses that are there to be tapped into in order to
improve outcomes for women and children.