“He went to kiss me, and then just slapped me square across the jaw.”

A new RTÉ documentary offers a harrowing insight into young women experiencing abuse in dating relationships in Ireland, which has been on the rise in recent years. The documentary series, titled UPFRONT: Domestic Abuse, is exclusive to RTÉ Player and delves into the different forms of domestic abuse - physical, psychological, emotional, sexual, financial and online abuse - and looks at the various support options available to those affected. In the two-part documentary series, RTÉ reporter Della Kilroy talks to survivors of domestic abuse in dating relationships as well as interviewing a perpetrator who is currently going through a rehabilitation programme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4TVioKGsyk Clip via RTÉ According to An Garda Síochána, domestic abuse is “everywhere”, affecting women from all walks of life. In 2014, however, the Garda Inspectorate Crime Investigation Report found that 45% of domestic violence calls were not recorded on the Pulse System. The leading domestic abuse charity, Women’s Aid, recently reported that over 16,000 calls were made to the charity last year and that increasingly more young women are coming forward to report abuse in dating relationships. Business women, students and mothers share their experience of abuse in many different situations – in dating relationships, while pregnant or married – in the documentary, which includes some of the following harrowing insights from those involved.

“By the time the first hit came, I was already a shell of a person. When you see the psychological signs, don’t ignore them. When it feels wrong, it is wrong.” “He went to kiss me, and then just slapped me square across the jaw.” “He never actually hit me until I was pregnant” “I have a lot of scars to remind me today of all of the violence.”

Commenting on his understanding of what constituted domestic abuse during the documentary, meanwhile, a perpetrator of domestic abuse said:

“The way I would have seen domestic violence was someone would have had to have a broken arm, or a woman would have had to be in a coma.”

The two-part documentary is available to watch on RTÉ Player now (Part One and Part Two); if you have been affected by any of the issues raised in the documentary or in the trailer, please contact: Women’s Aid freephone 1800 341 900 1800 341 900 or visit www.womensaid.ie and www.2in2u.ie AMEN 046 902 3718 or www.amen.ie COSC  www.cosc.ie MEND 051 878866 www.mend.ie