'Real and urgent problem' with violence against women as woman found dead in Kerry named
Vivienne Clarke
There is a “real and urgent problem” in Ireland with violence against women, including fatal violence, says Sarah Benson, CEO of Women’s Aid.
Since 2020, 82 women have died through violence, 52 in the Republic of Ireland and 30 in Northern Ireland, she told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, with seven violent deaths last year and “at least seven” already so far this year.
Benson’s comments come as gardaí in Kerry are investigating the death of a woman named locally as Jamey Carney, who was found at her home on the Muckross Road on Tuesday afternoon by a family member, who raised the alarm.
She was pronounced dead at the scene. Gardaí believe she died as a result of force being used.
“We have a real and urgent problem with violence against women, including fatal violence. This is not a simple thing, but it is not a new thing. For millennia, we have had male violence against women.
“It is deeply rooted in kind of structural and systemic inequalities, gender inequality. And whilst, of course, we've moved a very long way, we do still have a certain proportion of men in their relationships who will act not in a way that is respectful or equal.
"It is one that's rooted in a sense of entitlement, rooted in very traditionalist gender roles.
“And that spreads out also into what we experience as casual sexism, other forms of domestic, sexual and gender based violence. So it is rooted in that, and it is perpetuated by these inequalities.
"And even though Ireland, we're one of the richest countries in the world, we have good legislation, we still have this serious problem of one in three women suffering physical, psychological or sexual abuse from an intimate partner.
“And we still have pay inequality, care inequality, and that does compound women's options. It creates additional vulnerabilities in terms of economics and representation. So it is a complex problem on the one hand.
“It's a simple one on the other. There are so many men, the majority of men who choose not to behave in this way.
"But we need everyone in our communities to recognise that it is a problem and call it out.”
