Higgins condemns level of violence against women in Ireland

President Michael D Higgins has said the prevalence of violence against women in Ireland remains a “grave cause for concern” despite recent improvements in awareness.

He was speaking at the 10th Irish Consortium on Gender-Based Violence seminar in Dublin.

The seminar was opened by chairwoman Rosamond Bennett, who read a number of recent headlines describing the violent deaths of Irish women.

These included the murder of Karen Buckley (24) in Glasgow and of Marian Horgan (61), who was killed in her home in Co Cork this week.

“The headlines I read out are horrible, disturbing and far too frequent. We don’t hear about all the women and girls, and we don’t hear about all the forms of violence that they suffer,” she said.

“We never heard all the names of the women and girls who suffered horrendous violence in Darfur.

“There were too many of them and they were anonymous to many.”

Gender-based violence

Ms Bennett said for the last decade the group had strived to prevent gender-based violence.

However, she said that they were now focused on tackling the problem through changing “masculinities” and gender roles.

“Where we are now, we know that women are in a very vulnerable position.”

The President credited the consortium for allowing Ireland to speak with one voice on the importance of eliminating gender-based violence.