Fear among women after sickening knifepoint sexual assaults in Derry, says councillor
A Derry councillor says is fear among women after several reported sexual assaults in the space of little over a week.
Ulster Unionist Alderman Darren Guy said he was left shocked and angry at the recent upsurge in sexual assaults around the city in the past week.
He was speaking after two sexually motivated knifepoint attacks on the east bank of the Foyle.
"There is a fear amongst the female population across our city due to these sickening attacks. Women have begun to search for self-defence courses in their communities to protect themselves. It shouldn't be like this,” declared Alderman Guy.
In relation to the assaults at Drumahoe Park and Top of the Hill Park he acknowledged, ‘whilst these women may have been able to fight off their attacker, the traumatic experience will never leave them’.
The UUP representative said a law and order approach to sexual violence against women alone would not address the prevalence of the crime.
"We need to educate boys from an early age that violence against women is totally abhorrent, women must be treated with the upmost respect, and women who are suffering in silence through abusive relationships should be encouraged to break free from the coercive, dominating hold some partners have over them. They are more important to their friends and family than to any egotistical maniac that keeps them down.
"I would ask anyone who has dashcam footage from travelling along the Glenshane Road/Drumahoe Road between 8.30pm and 10.30pm on Friday, November 1 or who may have been in the vicinity of Corrody Road around 3pm on Saturday, November 2 to contact the PSNI,” he said.