Vigil held in Derry to call for an end to violence against women and girls

The vigil was held on Friday evening last at Guildhall Square on what was the second anniversary of Ashling Murphy’s murder in County Offaly in January 2022, and was organised in response to the reported sexual assault of a woman in Derry on New Year’s Eve.

Bethany Moore from Alliance for Choice Derry said: "We're hosting today's Solidarity reality to show our support for women across both the island and the world. We want to hold space for our anger, passion and pain that these instances of violence continue to happen.

"Today we've gathered here to show support for this woman and her family.

"Today is also the second anniversary of Ashling Murphy's murder. Ashling was a fantastic young teacher, sports person and musician. On her anniversary her school has said that they'd like to thank her for the great gifts of joy, music, song, sports and teaching that she gave to their school. Ms Murphy was a beautiful, kind, loving and excellent teacher who will never ever be forgotten. Two years ago on the 14th of January 2022 my words were spoken at an event just like this one. I'd like to remind you all of them today:

"I know many of us feel that we're deflated, heartbroken and exhausted by the constraints that patriarchy, misogyny and violence hold on our everyday lives but that's why we're here today. Let our collective grief and pain bring you solace that you're not alone in how you feel. Two years on from Ashling Murphy's murder and two weeks on from a local assault we say enough is enough.

"Instead of seeing improvements we are seeing cuts to the most vital of services. Women's aid has lost their core funding, Stormont is no longer active which means that there's next to no money being dedicated to the first year of the violence against women and girls strategy. Targeted misinformation campaigns now threaten the implementation of proper relationship and sex education.

"Our council area has some of the highest numbers of domestic abuse with three thousand incidents and more than two thousand related crimes taking place in the last two years and numbers are steadily increasing. Since 2017 around 40 women have been murdered in the north and following Ashling Murphy's murder nearly 20 women have been murdered in the south as well.

"Everyone knows someone who has suffered domestic or sexual abuse which makes it everyone's problem to tackle. We want this to be the start of conversations to make our city safer for women, girls and marginalized groups. Together we can change the culture of sexism, violence and femicide.”

Anita Villa said: “I have a daughter, a granddaughter and a great-granddaughter and I am incensed that we are here tonight. I see faces here who have been here for decades, marching on these streets, standing in the square, talking about violence against women and girls and here we are again with the same discussion and nothing really has changed. Bethany has laid out very clearly how bad the situation is here and my thoughts go to the families of the woman who have been attacked locally, but I wanted to say something because I am angry beyond words not just with what has happened here but what we're seeing on a daily basis on our screens on our phone screens.

"There is a link historically with how states for generation after generation has used rape and murder as a weapon of war and we're seeing it on a daily basis in Gaza. We see women being used as a tool for and that affects all of us. In her submission to the International Court of Justice yesterday (Thursday), Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh, an Irish barrister speaking for South Africa in its case of genocide against Israel, stated that 48 mothers a day are being murdered in Gaza, two every hour. Women are being deliberately starved, have no access to water or sanitary products, medical facilities and hospitals have been particularly targeted so that there is little or no access to maternity services and women are having to go through caesarean sections without anaesthesia. As long as we as a society turn our eyes away from these atrocities, none of us are safe. If those women aren't safe, we're not safe because those attitudes that think it is okay to use women as weapons of war are the attitudes that then permeate our whole society. As long as governments endorse the right of Israel to murder women and girls with impunity, none of us are safe. It is the case that none of us are safe until all of us are safe.

Anita Villa said she was angry that young people were having to think how to keep themselves safe.

“Responsibility is always being put on them to come up with solutions to this and it is not good enough.”

Anita Villa said businesses, services and facilities out there “who want their money on a weekend”… “owe our kids the right to be safe and to not have to think about their safety when they're getting their make-up on or deciding what they're going to wear.

“There is a responsibility on those who offer those facilities to come up with solutions for our young ones.”