Kilkenny senator calls for action as 'horrifying milestone' reached
Senator Patricia Stephenson: “It’s clear from how often we hear of the killing of women in Ireland that we are going backwards with regards to femicide. This paints a barbaric, medieval picture of our country.”
A Carlow-Kilkenny based senator has called for urgent action to tackle violence against women after the number of women killed violently in Ireland this year surpassed last year's total.
Social Democrats Senator Patricia Stephenson said the latest figures highlight the need for stronger measures to combat femicide and better support for survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
Her comments follow the violent death of a woman in Killarney last week.
Referring to figures from Women's Aid Femicide Watch, Senator Stephenson said: “These are not just numbers or statistics - these are real women who lived real lives, lives that have abruptly cut short in the most horrendous circumstances.”
She added: “According to the Women's Aid Femicide Watch, eight women have died violently so far this year. That is a horrifying milestone.”
This is a crisis which demands urgent attention
Senator Stephenson said the frequency of such incidents showed Ireland was “going backwards with regards to femicide”.
“It’s clear from how often we hear of the killing of women in Ireland that we are going backwards with regards to femicide. This paints a barbaric, medieval picture of our country,” she said.
The senator also described violence against women as “an all-island epidemic”, adding: “Northern Ireland is one of the most dangerous places in Europe to be a woman. This is a crisis which demands urgent attention.”
She said that, since the murder of Ashling Murphy in 2022, “40 women have died violently in Ireland”, describing the situation as “unacceptable”.
“The disturbing reality is that domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is widespread in Ireland. We know that women are the most at risk of experiencing gender-based violence. We must do more to tackle it,” she said.
Among the measures proposed by the Social Democrats are prioritising survivors of gender-based violence in Government housing policy, giving gardaí new powers to remove abusers from the home, and changing legislation so that survivors’ counselling notes are not routinely used as evidence in sex offence trials.
“We cannot let this issue get sidelined. We must fight to create an equal and safe Ireland for everyone. Violence against women must sit at the top of the justice agenda,” Senator Stephenson said.