Throughout the world, in times of war, in homes, and in the community, women are beaten, raped,
mutilated and killed on an astonishing scale, and often with complete impunity. Violence against
women is a human rights abuse happening on such a massive scale that Amnesty International has
launched a global campaign, Stop Violence Against Women, calling for all governments to prioritise
its eradication. Many people are startled, dismayed or incredulous when we say that one in three
women will experience some form of gender-based violence – e.g. sexual violence, or systematic
domestic violence – in her lifetime. And this is as real in Ireland as in any other country. In the
context of violence in the home, Garda statistics for Ireland confirm that over 90 per cent of callouts
are for female victims, and that the perpetrator in over 90 per cent of cases is male – generally
an intimate partner. And a 2002 WHO report states that only 20 per cent of physically abused
women in Ireland even contacted the police. Similarly, there were 45,000 help-line calls last year to
Rape Crisis Centres, 89 per cent of which were from females, and 97 per cent of perpetrators were
male. UN statistics on Ireland indicate that only one
in ten women or girls even report sexual violence.