This article is from page 18 of the 2006-11-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 18 JPG
A POIGNANT ceremony to remember the 125 women who have died violent deaths since 1996 and to mark the beginning of 16 days of action on domestic violence is being held in Ennis today.
According to figures produced by Women’s Aid, 80 of those 125 murder victims were killed in their own homes.
At today’s ceremony, candles will be lit to remember each of the murdered women.
The ceremony is part of the 16 Days of Action, an international campaign focusing on violence against women, running from November 25 – International Day Against Violence Against Women – to December 10, which is International Human Rights Day.
Events are taking place around the country to mark the 16 days of action on the theme of breaking the silence.
Last week in Dublin, Women’s Aid held a minute’s silence outside the Dáil in memory of the murdered women.
Speaking outside the Dail against the backdrop of a giant ‘In Memoriam’ card, Margaret Martin, Director of Women’s Aid, said, “The seriousness of the levels of violence against women in Ireland today and the failure of the legal system to keep women safe cannot be over-emphasised.
“The tragic reality is that some women pay the ultimate price of their lives.”
According to recent research, almost 50 per cent of all resolved cases of female homicide were committed by the husband, ex-husband, partner or ex-partner. This involved cases where the perpetrator had been charged and found guilty.
Martin continued, “Many people would like to believe that this issue has been dealt with. This is clearly not the case. Current services to women experiencing violence have received no increase in funding since 2002, despite the high increase in costs, which effectively means the curtailing of services year on year.
“The political will to take this issue seriously must be translated into adequate funding in this year’s budget. Women’s Aid has been making this call for the past four years and, still, in Ireland every month, on average one woman is murdered.”
Despite an increase in the number of calls responded to by the Women’s Aid National Freephone Helpline in 2005, there were more than 10,000 calls that could not be answered.
“We sometimes hear from women telling us that they have been suffocated until they were unconscious. It is obvious how dangerous the situation is for those women. While we know that the months prior to leaving and immediately after leaving are the most dangerous, we want women to know that many do make the break from their abuser and go on to lead full lives,” Ms Martin said.