Women Seeking Justice event

Published: Monday, December 18, 2017

All forms of violence against women must be criminalised and appropriately punished to ensure women have access to justice. This was the message from a half-day conference held by the Irish Observatory on Violence Against Women in Dublin.

The Irish Observatory on Violence Against Women, in existence since 2002, is an independent network of grassroots and national organisations monitoring progress on responses to violence against women and lobbying for policy and legislative changes.

NWCI chairs and convenes the Observatory. Currently, we have 18 member organisations, representing a broad coalition working together to press for real progress on eradicating all forms of violence against women in Ireland and worldwide. 

The 16 days of action opposing violence against women event was developed in line with the principles of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (the Istanbul Convention). According to the Convention, it is the obligation of the state to fully address in all its forms and to take measures to prevent violence against women, protect its victims and prosecute the perpetrators.

Experts from a wide range of sectors and agencies examined how Ireland can establish a ‘gold standard’ prosecution process which supports victims of violence against women and which holds perpetrators to account, while respecting the rights of the accused.

Speakers included: Maria McDonald, BL and Victims’ Rights Advocate; Rebecca Coen, BL and Office of the DPP; Emma Murphy, public speaker and domestic violence advocate; Tom O'Malley, Senior Lecturer in Law at NUIG and a member of the Irish Law Reform Commission; Margaret Martin, CEO of Women's Aid and Observatory member; Conor Gallagher, Journalist with the Irish Times, who chaired the panel; Deirdre Clune, MEP; and Lynn Boyle, MEP.

Read the Observatory press release on the event here.