16 Days of Action Opposing Violence Against Women 2011

Women's Aid is a leading national organisation that has been working to address the issue of domestic violence in Ireland for more than 35 years. In addition to providing direct services to women, they also engage in training research and campaigning. As part of their current campaign, ‘One in Five Women’ they send out ’16 Facts for 16 days’ by email from the 25th of November to the 10th of December. Here they are in summary:

• Day 1: Prevalence of Domestic Violence against women in Ireland. 1 in 5 Irish women who have been in a relationship have been abused by a current or former partner.

• Day 2: Violence against Women Globally. International research consistently demonstrates that a woman is more likely to be assaulted, injured, raped, or killed by a current or former partner than by any other person.

• Day 3: Sexual Violence. More than 4 in 10 (42%) women in Ireland have experienced some form of sexual abuse or assault in their lifetime.

• Day 4: Domestic Violence and Minority Women. In 2010, minority ethnic women represented nearly a third (29%) of Women's Aid Support Service users.

• Day 5: Domestic Violence: a pattern, not an isolated event. Almost three quarters of incidents of domestic violence (73%) involve repeat offending, with over one in four victims (27%) attacked three or more times.

• Day 6: Domestic Violence and Children. In the UK, nearly 75% of children on the 'at risk' register live in households where domestic violence occurs.

• Day 7: Domestic Violence and Health. A study conducted by the Rotunda Maternity Hospital found that in a sample of 400 pregnant women, 1 in 8 had experienced abuse while they were pregnant.

• Day 8: Domestic Violence and Injury. For women aged 15-44 worldwide, acts of violence cause more death and disability than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, and war combined.

• Day 9: The economic cost of Domestic Violence. The estimated economic cost of domestic violence to the Irish economy is €2.2billion a year.

• Day 10: Domestic Violence and the Legal System. Only 29% of women who had experienced severe abuse had reported it to An Garda Síochána.

• Day 11: Obstacles to Leaving Abusive Relationships. In 2010, on over 3,236 occasions services were unable to accommodate women and their children because the refuge was full or there was no refuge in their area.

• Day 12: Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation. 1 in 15 men in Ireland reported that they buy sex. 25% of men who bought sex stated that they had met a woman who they felt was being forced into prostitution.

• Day 13: Domestic Violence and Young Women. In a 2007 survey of 715 university students, 44% knew at least one woman or girl who had been hit by a boyfriend or partner.

• Day 14: Domestic Violence and Homelessness. In 2010, there were 1,545 admissions of women and 2,355 admissions of children to refuge in Ireland.

• Day 15: Domestic Violence and Gender. 1 in 7 women in Ireland compared to 1 in 17 men experience severe domestic violence.

• Day 16: Domestic Violence and Homicide. 40-70% of women who are murdered worldwide are killed by their current or former husband or boyfriend, frequently in the context of an ongoing abusive relationship.

You can find out more about Women’s Aid and this campaign on their website, http://www.womensaid.ie/.