Structures of Engagement for Survivors of Violence Against Women

Published: Thursday, April 23, 2026

This project explored the potential options to support the development and implementation of survivor-centred structures for engagement in Ireland. It focussed on considerations for developing a more consistent and effective national survivor engagement framework, informed by survivors and stakeholders across civil society organisations and government departments. Learning from promising practice in other jurisdictions was also a central feature of the project. This project builds on the Observatory and its members’ long-standing commitment to an intersectional approach to policymaking and service provision, placing women’s voices – particularly those of victim-survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV) – at the heart. It further draws on the literature review developed by the Observatory in 2024, supported by Community Foundation Ireland, which explored the importance of embedding lived experience of DSGBV in policy as a form of expertise in its own right. This review has strengthened collaboration with Cuan to advance its commitments, as well as those set out in the Third National Strategy on DSGBV and the forthcoming Fourth National Strategy. In particular, it supports the development and implementation of survivor structures of engagement in tackling DSGBV

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