‘I’m sad to say that things have got worse not better’

Myself and a number of other women were involved in the setting up of Meath's Women's Refuge here in 1987. And we saw the extremes of violence against women.

Since 1996 when Women's Aid started correlating information, 244 women have died, only 13% of them at the hands of strangers, which means the vast majority died at the hands of men that they knew that or involved with.

The deaths are the extreme part of the violence, death is the end result.

Then came the news about Ashling Murphy, finishing work as a young teacher and deciding to head out for a run on a bright evening, not dark at all and in her own area, a well populated area, and she met her death at the hands of a man in 1987.

Unfortunately, there are thousands of women who suffer abuse, mental abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse, psychological abuse at the hands of their partners, at the hands of men.

I was talking to one or two of the women who were involved with me in the setting up of the refuge and we agreed things have got worse, not better. Things have got worse.

I'm listening to women talk here today and they're talking and recounting their own experiences about the fact that they choose to go for a walk only when the friend is available, or they choose to pick an area that they know will be well populated.

Men don't have those kinds of discussions. They don't have to draw up a plan about how they're going to go out and exercise or how they're going to go and socialise. And men can go out and socialise quite freely and come home safe.

When women are going out to walk or do the shopping or that, they don't know. You know that they're carrying their keys in their hands or carrying whistles or a little bit of perfume in their pocket anything to keep themselves safe."

We're not living in an equal society, anything but, and while I'm heartened to see all the people here and to see the outpouring of grief and love for Ashling Murphy, I'm sad to say things are getting worse not better.

Conversations need to be had at every level in the schools, in the workplaces, in the social clubs, in the football grounds, in the camogie clubs, At Dail level, everywhere. People need to be called out for unacceptable behavior and for abusive behavior.

The jokes about having a go at women and the comments that can be made about women, it's not funny anymore. That's only the start of it, and that will grow and grow, grow and escalate to violence and a damning attitude towards women that it's okay to put them down, it's okay to threaten them, it's okay to abuse them.

The laws in this country and other countries are not adequate enough to protect women. Enough is enough now, enough is enough.