OVER 200 WOMEN have suffered violent deaths since the beginning of 1996, according to a new report published by Women’s Aid.
Launched today on the UN Day of Opposing Violence Against Women, the ‘Femicide Watch’ report charts 20 years of fatal violence against women in the State.
It shows that 209 women have died violently since the beginning of 1996, while 16 children have been killed alongside their mothers.
Women’s Aid said the Femicide Watch shows that a woman in Ireland is most likely to be killed in her own home and by a current or former boyfriend, partner or husband. Of the 209 women killed in the past 20 years, 131 died in their own homes.
In total, 87% of women were killed by a man they knew. In the resolved cases, 89 women were murdered by a partner or ex-partner. Another 54 women were killed by a male relative or a man known to them.
There have been 22 cases of murder suicide in the same timeframe, where the killer has killed a woman and then himself during the incident or shortly afterwards. In all but one of these cases, the killer was a partner or ex-partner of the victim.
The Women’s Aid report also looked at the global situation, citing a 2013 study showing that more than 38% of all murders of women across the world are committed by an intimate partner. In comparison, the same research estimates about 6% of all murders of men are committed by an intimate partner.
The support group is calling for greater recognition of risk factors, for multi-agency risk assessment and the introduction of domestic homicide reviews.
“Lethal violence is at the most severe end of the spectrum of violence against women,” said Women’s Aid director Margaret Martin:
We know where women are killed. We know how women are killed and by whom. And we know why. It is time to act.
“Femicide must not be accepted as a fact of life.
Women should be safe in their homes and in their relationships. And we must recognise the strong connection between the killing of women and domestic violence.
Martin added: “Domestic violence kills women. It kills children too. In 2015 we heard over 22,000 disclosures of abuse of women and children.
“Last year there were 970 threats to kill women, children and family members disclosed to Women’s Aid. There were 579 additional disclosures of assaults with weapons, threats with weapons and being strangled and smothered.”
Martin added that leaving or trying to leave an abusive relationship is often a very dangerous time for a woman.
Women’s Aid is leading a nationwide moment of remembrance across Ireland at 12.30pm today to remember victims of femicide in Ireland.
The Women’s Aid 24hr national freephone helpline is 1800 341 900.
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