The Irish government has launched the National Community Safety Survey, calling on people all over Ireland to share their views on community safety. It is particularly important for LGBTQ+ people and other marginalised groups to take part in the survey and share our experiences of safety, harm, and policing.
Launched by the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, the National Community Safety Survey aims to inform Ireland’s first National Strategy for Improving Community Safety, developed as part of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024.
The strategy aims to respond to the needs and concerns of communities regarding safety and help public services and communities work together. The survey will allow the public to weigh in on what community safety means and participate in the development of the strategy.
By sharing what makes you feel safe or unsafe, you will help create public policy about community safety in Ireland. Such policies are how the Irish government local authorities and other public bodies respond to issues that affect individuals, communities and the country as a whole.
Speaking about the survey, Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre CEO Oisín O’Reilly said: “The National Community Safety Survey is a real opportunity for LGBTQ+ people to have their experiences of safety, harm, and policing counted.
“For many in our community, these issues are shaped by lived experience and by history. Our community was criminalised within living memory, and that legacy still affects how safe people feel reporting incidents today. We also know that LGBTQ+ people continue to experience high levels of harassment and violence, and many incidents go unreported because people worry they won’t be believed or taken seriously.
“If LGBTQ+ voices aren’t in this survey, our realities risk being invisible in the decisions that follow. Taking a few minutes to take part is a simple but important way to help shape safer, more accountable community safety for our community,” O’Reilly added.
To take part in the National Community Safety Survey, follow this link.
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