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Amid a worrying rise in domestic abuse incidents across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, an empowering initiative is set to bring critical conversations to the forefront. The '5 Books That Could Save Your Life' tour, initiated by Haven Horizons, is embarking on a cross-border journey to deepen our understanding of coercive control and its devastating link to domestic homicide. Scheduled to make a stop at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University Belfast on June 11, this event promises not just to inform, but to catalyse change.
Madeline McAleer, the visionary behind this project and Research, Training, and Development Director at Haven Horizons, was spurred into action after seeing how a single book could illuminate the dangers of coercive control for a victim. Her experience underscores the tour’s ethos: through literature, we can arm individuals with the knowledge that might indeed save lives.
"If we don’t understand coercive control and its link to domestic homicide," she warns, "more victims will die."
The partnership, which also involves Reclaim the Agenda and Belfast & Lisburn Women’s Aid, is tackling these issues head-on by fostering an all-Ireland dialogue around coercion and control. A panel of experts including McAleer, Danielle Roberts from Reclaim the Agenda, and Noelle Collins from Belfast & Lisburn Women’s Aid, will engage in discourse moderated by Irish Examiner columnist Sarah Harte. Together, they will delve into why such chilling statistics persist, with PSNI reporting a distressing 29,751 domestic abuse incidents between April 2024 and March 2025 alone.
This spike in reported cases, coupled with a concerning increase in domestic homicides—six in that period, which is double from the previous year—highlights a glaring issue desperately in need of attention. Similar trends resonate across the border, where An Garda Síochána receives reports of domestic abuse every ten minutes, tallying up to 65,000 incidents in 2024.
Danielle Roberts articulates the gravity of the situation best, referring to it as a "tsunami of domestic abuse North and South," with sweeping impacts on individuals, families, and society.
Through this project, the organisations aim to foster deeper social understanding and stimulate genuine cultural change.
In particular, the panel will address how coercive control transcends demographics—it victimises men, LGBTQ+ individuals, and disproportionately women and girls, especially those in professional sectors.
"Coercive control cuts across all social strata," asserts Noelle Collins, making awareness and education paramount.
Supported by the Shared Island Civic Society Fund, Department of Foreign Affairs, this initiative is more than a series of discussions; it is a call to action. Following the Belfast event, further conversations are planned in Dublin, culminating in a webinar in November featuring insights from the authors of the selected books.
Among the impactful works highlighted are Remembered Forever by Luke and Ryan Hart, Brutally Honest by Mel B, Invisible Chains by Dr Lisa Aronson Fontes, In Control by Professor Jane Monckton Smith, and What is to be Done About Violence Against Women by Professors Kate Fitz-Gibbon and Sandra Walklate. These texts provide crucial insights into the patterns of coercion and control, urging readers to recognise red flags that, if identified early enough, could prevent tragedy.
As Madeline McAleer puts it, "This event is about identifying coercively controlling behaviour as highly dangerous and the key driver of domestic homicide."
By illuminating these issues and encouraging informed dialogue, the '5 Books That Could Save Your Life' tour is poised to influence policies, transform perceptions, and most importantly, save lives.
Tickets for this transformative event are available at no cost but must be reserved via Eventbrite.