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THE 78 WOMEN murdered in Ireland by their partners or ex-partners since 1996 are to be remembered today.
Women’s Aid is to hold a minute’s silence to remember the women, along with 10 children murdered alongside their mother. It has invited all TDs and Senators to join them.
One in every two women murdered is killed by a current or former boyfriend, partner or husband, said Women’s Aid.
The minute’s silence is to be held at 11am outside Dáil Éireann. Memoriam cards remembering the 78 women have been distributed to politicians.
Stark reminder
78 pairs of women’s shoes and 10 pairs of children’s shoes will be placed outside Leinster House “[to] act as the starkest reminder of the dangerous and sometimes fatal nature of domestic abuse”.
Margaret Martin, Director of Women’s Aid said:
Since 1996, 78 women have been murdered by a current or former intimate partner. Women’s Aid records show that this represents over half of all resolved female homicide cases (53%). With 1 in every 2 women murdered being killed by a current or former boyfriend, partner or husband it is imperative that we act now before more lives are stolen.
Women’s Aid believes that increased recognition and management of risk factors for intimate partner homicide would lead to an improved response to domestic abuse by the State and its agencies.
Martin explained: “Risk factors for intimate partner homicide include physical abuse, threats to kill, controlling behaviour, stalking and harassment. Separation is also a risk factor for escalating violence and is often the most dangerous time for women in abusive relationships.”
She described domestic abuse as “a hidden and misunderstood issue in Irish society”. One in five women in Ireland experiences domestic violence including physical, emotional, sexual and financial abuse.
Over 17,000 calls were answered by the Women’s Aid National Freephone Helpline in 2013.
Martin said that some women who called the helpline “spoke of inconsistent responses by State institutions and agencies such as the Courts and Gardaí”. She said these experiences were supported by the recent Garda Inspectorate Report.
The minute’s silence takes place ahead of the International Day Opposing Violence against Women (25 November 2014) and the beginning of the Women’s Aid One in Five Women Awareness Campaign.
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It was great to see an article yesterday discussing domestic violence against men and to see the comments section where all stood united in how this is a terrible thing and more support/resources/attention must be given to it.
Unfortunately a day later when an article appears about murder of women who are in a domestic abuse situation, male commentators are out with their amazing ability to just ignore that 78 women were murdered by someone who should have been making them feel safe and protected, and instead to rant about why the article doesn’t discuss men.
I did not see one commentator on the Amen article yesterday saying wahhhh why isn’t it about women, why can’t we have an article for both sexes, I want to know the numbers of women involved not just men.
Excellent points. Plus these statistics come from ‘Women’s Aid’ so the clues in the name why they would just have statistics relating to women.
Exactly. Too many men who like to have a good moan whenever women organize and highlight their problems, and yet never actually do anything about their own. They also only ever seem to complain about their own problems when it’s in an article about women, and then tend to use that article to blame feminists for these issues.
Look, if you are genuinely worried about male domestic violence, why don’t you write an opinion piece for the Journal highlighting it, or run a fundraiser for Amen, or denounce media that trivializes and mocks it? It would be so much more productive, and it’s great that some men already do this. They’re the men who are going to make a difference in the public perception of male domestic violence, not the whingers who wonder why every article doesn’t deal with them, and b*tch about other people’s hard work.
Valid point, Mrs Shalakalananaka. Even yesterday on the Amen article a man was complaining about how when a man rings the Amen helpline he might get a woman on the other line. Apparently it was women and feminists fault that not enough men have volunteered with Amen to eliminate the possibility that a woman can answer a call.
Yes I’m sure those 78 women who were murdered by their partners are only pretending that they are vulnerable women. The comments from yesterdays article were supportive. The relevance to that is that the same people are commenting on the article here today yet their comments are anything but supportive. Why on earth would you consider an organisation that helps women as man hating? What part of helping vulnerable women amounts to hating men?
Balance? Think the stats may show that men are more likely to be the perpetrator than the victim in these cases.
So because this is perpetrated by men in most cases the men who suffer domestic abuse or are killed are just paying for the sins of other men… That’s some logic !
…..eh, nobody said that.
Not once.
Not in the comments and not in the article itself.
Cowardly men are all over Ireland when they are down the pub with there mates buying rounds of drink everyone thinks they are Mr.nice guy, but when they arrive home drunk there is hell to pay…
Generalise much ?
Buying rounds should be banned.
Just telling the truth and you know it.
Do you hate men or something like that? I remember you saying on another article that only perverted men pay for sex. It is overall human nature not gender. Women are just as good/bad as men.
See what I mean, Anne K?
Oh I am totally convinced now Silver Planet. One lunatic poster who the other day was saying all men except her husband are evil is definitely a sign that all women hate all men. Case Closed.
That’d be a great comeback if I said that all women hate all men. If.
Why not remember all women who were murdered rather than those just murdered by someone who had a specific relationship with them? I realise they’re trying to highlight domestic violence but it just seems weird.
Or we could have an article that covers both sexes for balance.
I think the point, much like as in rape, it’s perpetrated by someone who is known and has a position or is attempting to have a position of authority over her life, and when that attempt fails the result is murder. The dynamics is different to someone who randomly decides to kill a person for reasons unknown. It implies a degree of intent that comes with familiarity which adds to the sinister aspect of it. And also, it’s women’s aid, they’re trying to highlight the problem of domestic violence, of course they’ll link the higher likelihood of women in a suite relationships to be killed by their partner. It makes perfect sense for them to highlight the statistic.
Sounds like women empowering themselves to me… What are they at…
Glen exactly what I was thinking. Women kill their partners too. I understand that the number of women is likely much higher but why are men excluded?
The stats are kinds pointless without showing how many men were killed by their partners.
I could not find exact figures for Ireland but I would presume it is alot lower if figures are in line with the UK & US:
In the UK between 2001 and 2002, 46% of female homicide victims compared with 5% of male homicide victims were killed by a current or former partner. Over 2 women a week were killed by a former or current partner during this period. (Flood-Page et al, Crime in England and Wales 2001/2002: Supplementary Volume, Home Office, 2003)
In 2007, 45% of female homicide victims in the US were murdered by a male partner or ex-partner, compared to 5% of men. [Female Victims of Violence, Bureau Of Justice Statistics Selected Findings, September 2009, USDOJ]
Fair enough. I kinda assumed the the figures would be low.
46% of female homicide victims killed by their partners! Thats very high!
Anne is playing games with statistics there. Focussing on the % of men murdered at home compared to other murdered men, rather than comparing the number of men murdered to the number of women murdered
Eh Frank asked for the number of men killed by their partners. Not the number of men murdered versus the number of women murdered. Hence why I replied with the relevant statistics.
No you didn’t. You replied with a comparison of the number of men killed as a result of domestic violence with the total number of men killed
Were you dropped on your head as a baby?
A high risk contact sports injury perhaps?
Anne provide the stats she was asked for. It is you who morphed it into overall numbers murdered in any event, by gender.
The article is about women murdered by husbands and male partners, past and present. The obvious comparison would be men murdered by wives and female partners, past and present. That’s what Frank asked for not ‘ How many men in total are murdered’.
And Frank is right. The point is diluted by not providing the comparable figure, be it high or low.
What are my apparent cards then that i’m apparently showing?
Luckily for me the kind of men in my life are those who read an article like this and think ‘ how awful’ not ‘but what about me’
I do wonder how many men have been murdered by their partners or abused for that matter, in the same period.
Then you should have been on the Journal just yesterday, when there was an article about that exact topic.
Couldn’t find stats but in America it’s 37% women who have been murdered by a domestic partner versus 3% for men.
And we know that murder victims are 76% male, 24% female. Which means that US women are just under 4x more likely than men to be murdered by a domestic partner, whereas US men are just under 5x more likely to be murdered by someone else.
Those stats are heavily skewed by the disproportionate number of murders of black men by other unrelated black men. If you take that out, there would still be a difference in both, but nothing like as extreme.
There needs to be a much stronger strategy to help all people out of abusive relationships. People need to have their self esteem and confidence re-assured so that they don’t feel dependent on violent partners. Eternal victimhood is achieving very little except to perpetuate these sorts of unhealthy dependencies. Women, girls and boys from a young age need to be given the confidence to feel in control of their lives and take ownership of their choices.
That, but also I think the problem stems from people thinking that a romantic partner is a goal or a thing to be obtained, as if their societal status depends on it. And when you pursue a relationship for superficial reasons rather than mutual companionship the relationship can turn bad and sometimes violent.
That sounds dangerously close to victim-blaming, Joanna.
I wasn’t talking about the victims.
But it sounds like you are.
There’s something deeply chilling about that statistic, half of all resolved murders of women are by someone they should trust, someone who should love them and want them to be safe. I know that includes ex-partners in that, but even if it ended badly, it doesn’t mean one half of the relationship deserves to die.
Looks like another Kite is going up…
very sad hope it gets recognized on the news to raise awareness.
How is the woman now who was nearly killed when she was thrown at a black steel pillar by three Gardai during the water protest? They must be identified & disciplined.
That has got nothing to do with what this article is about this article is to highlight that some women are abused day in day out along with their children and eventually can end up dead due to the abuse! If you aren’t going to respect what this article is for then don’t comment!
Unfortunately this and other publications seem unable to publish stories relating to violence against women without being accused of being unbalanced, prejudiced against men etc.
I agree balance in the media is fair and I also agree that there isn’t as much coverage given to violence against men, but that has improved. I do recall a piece about domestic violence against men only yesterday. Same piece is linked at bottom of this article.
But you have to stop getting upset with every story that isn’t showing some men in their best light. Violence against women and children happens every day and the death rate is very high. It is a separate issue and we shouldn’t be made feel we should not be allowed highlight it.
Women’s Aid are highlighting an important issue here. Amen did the same in yesterday’s article. Those messages would be lost and diluted if they have to start including everything else for balances sake in the one article. Show some compassion for the victims and please just stop.
Yesterday’s article about domestic abuse suffered by men is the first I have seen on the journal compared too dozens I have read concerning abuse towards women…. There is no balance in the media on this subject.
There is no balance in the numbers of men killed by their partners either Glen. More women are killed by their partners than men and that is a fact not only on an Irish or European but on a global scale. It does not mean that no one cares about the violence that is perpetrated against men by women, it is just that obviously when something disproportionately affects one section of society there will be more information and coverage on this.
I for one find it very disappointing that when you read an article about 78 women being murdered you don’t even seem to think that it merits a mention in your comment. It seems completely irrelevant to you. Its all about why the article is not on your gender.
You are also wrong about that article being the first on the Journal. It may have been the first you have seen but this is not the case.
Anne
I completely agree woman suffer at the hands of men more that the opposite
My argument is that men suffering from domestic abuse is not highlighted as much as women suffering from domestic abuse and it should be….. What part of that do you not understand?
You completely agree that far higher numbers of women are abused and murdered by men than men are abused and murdered by women yet you want to see equal coverage of both cases in the media. That is the part I don’t understand.
There is far less coverage of men suffering domestic abuse, almost none all I’m asking is for that to change.
At the end of the day there are men differing and they deserve the same help.
They do deserve the same help which was the overall united consensus of people on the Amen article yesterday and I do agree that there should be more than there currently is. However given that this issue disproportinately affects women there will always be more coverage on women until that changes. I for one look forward to that day.
Well done however on completely detracting the focus of this article – 78 women murdered by their partners – to make it about how you feel about the media coverage of domestic violence men suffer.
You’re showing your cards now !
Yup the cards of wanting focus on this article to be on the subject of this article. The cards of agreeing that there should be more coverage of domestic violence against men but using common sense to know that while an issue disproportionately affects one sector of society media coverage will be predominately on that sector.
Or maybe I am a secret ‘feminazi’ and I hate men…. grow up Glen.
Glen your paranoia about women is worrying. You should really speak to someone about that. Any man who reads this article and doesn’t think that its awful and those poor women but instead thinks ‘what about me and my gender’ needs to do some serious thinking, for the sake of the women in your life at least.
Anne
Cop on
I ask for more openness and awareness for men suffering from domestic abuse
And you twist that into me being paranoid and needing help …. Now that there is should show anyone reading this thread where your head is really at
Have a nice day.
The issue of balance shouldn’t be neatly dismissed with a quick reference to one article published yesterday. The fact of the matter is, long-term, there is a huge bias in favour of articles (both here and in the media in general) highlighting the plight of women, whilst men’s issue very rarely get a look in because we are all assumed to be either well off and privileged by this society, or potential rapists, murderers and abusers (a stereotype that the constant negative characterisation of all men in female-focused articles only exacerbates).
Men only had an article yesterday because it was international men’s day (not that anyone takes that seriously), whilst every other day of the year in the media tends heavily towards women.
So please, don’t dismiss the calls for balance on the basis of one or a small number of articles that happen to circulate on November the 19th.
That said (and I’m aware I’m contradicting myself a bit here but all for the sake of getting my point across) I don’t believe we should allow ourselves to be distracted from the important message in these type of articles. Domestic violence and murder against women is evil, weak, and cowardly and these sort of articles should always be appreciated on their own individual merit. So apologies for dragging up the bias issue here, I just felt it needed to be said.
Alex there is no balance in the numbers of each sex who are murdered by their partners. Far more women are murdered by their male partners than men murdered by their female partners. Where is the balance there? Obviously if something disproportionately affects one sector of society then that sector is where the emphasis is going to be.
Your assertions that the reason for the lack of focus on men in this situation is because men are assumed to be either well off or rapists and murderers is completely ludicrous. Why on earth would you think that women and the media have that opinion of you? Have you asked the females in your life what they think? I would be shocked to hear even one agree with you.
Anne,
I find your comment to be quite insensitive to my own struggles as a man in this society (believe it or not, we do actually struggle, the major issue being that society tells us to simply ‘suck it up and be a man’, so men rarely have the incentive to talk about their problems, and so society carries on assuming none exist – the exorbitant amount of male suicides is testament to this reality), and I feel you have completely missed my point.
My comments regarding balance should not be looked at through the sole prism of this particular article. I have no doubt that more women are murdered by their partners than vice versa. I had never taken any issue with that. And in fact I stated that I do not want to detract from the sincere importance of highlighting such a tragic state of affairs. All I was trying to point out that there is an issue with the balance of coverage given to these types of articles, in a more longitudinal sense, in the media as a whole.
I furthermore accept that it is not ideal for me to raise these issues in an article of this nature, I merely felt it to be pertinent at the time, because that just seemed to be the way the general discourse in the comments section here was going, and I felt the points of SOME (not all) of the male posters were being unfairly dismissed.
I appreciate your own comments, I wish to uphold the sanctity of this article, and the issues raised in it. Therefore, I will not continue this conversation here any further, though I might just take your advice (at least I think it was you who suggested it, I’m not too sure) and send an email to the editor highlighting the issue of gender balance in media coverage.
Apologies for any offence caused.
Move along. Nothing to see here.
have your say