'We are all Sarah': People across the country stand together to oppose gender-based violence

In Cork, about 100 masked and socially distanced people gathered on Grand Parade

The socially distanced group at the Grand Parade, Cork City, one of many protests organised in Irish cities following Sarah Everard's murder. Picture: Larry Cummins

“Even my dog understands when I say ‘no’” was one of the many brightly painted signs brought to a protest in Cork as people stood against gender-based violence.

About 100 masked people gathered on Grand Parade, standing on ‘X’s carefully marked out in chalk to maintain social distancing.

Many of today's protesters referenced Sarah Everard's disappearance in London. Picture: Larry Cummins

“We are all Sarah,” one young woman told the crowd, referring to Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive who disappeared while walking home in London on March 3. Her body was later found in Kent and a Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with her murder. Her death has sparked international outrage and protests.

“Women are constantly looking over their shoulder,” Heather O’Callaghan, event organiser with Rosa (Reproductive rights, against Oppression, Sexism and Austerity) and MC told the crowd.

“The man who killed Sarah Everard was not just one bad apple. The issue is not what we wear or where we go. It’s not that men are inherently dangerous. It’s a systematic issue that thrives on misogyny and oppression of women, of queer people and of people of colour in particular. 

Stefanie Di Croce addresses the crowd at the  Limerick rally. Picture: Liam Burke/Press 22s

"It’s the same system that makes it nearly impossible to escape domestic violence, when housing is so scarce and shelters for victims and their children are severely underfunded.” 

Solidarity-People Before Profit councillor Fiona Ryan told the Irish Examiner that event organisers had tried hard to keep the protest safe and only asked people to come who could do so within their 5km.

“I think it’s important during this international wave of struggle against gender-based violence, it’s important that Cork stands with that movement and shows solidarity.

“In Ireland there’s been an 88% increase in intimate partner violence during the pandemic one report found, and within that same study, 83% of women felt they needed to restrict their movements for fear of sexual harassment or sexual violence," Ms Ryan said.

“The death of Sarah Everard retraumatised women internationally and made them look at our own behaviours. I was talking on Twitter to a woman who said that she learned from a very early age to hold her key between her fingers [as a weapon]. 

"I realised my mother taught me that when I was barely in the double digits. This so-called common-sense is actually fear. It’s fear of the unknown because so many of us experience harassment on a daily basis." 

The Cork protest was one of many organised this week by Rosa and former TD Ruth Coppinger.

Limerick

In Limerick, a small but passionate group of activists joined together on the corner of Thomas Street and O’Connell Street, as they spoke out to end gender violence.

Stefanie Dicroce, Claire Moroney and Aislinn O'Keeffe at the Limerick protest against gender-based violence. Picture: Liam Burke/Press 22

The crowd, which numbered close to 30, quickly drowned out an anti-masker, who had attempted to hijack the gathering, with chants such as “Whose streets? – Our streets”. 

Stefanie Di Croce, an activist who spoke, said  she felt trapped in her own home over winter out of fear of walking alone in the dark.

“If I go out, am I doing the right thing. If something happens to me, am I going to be blamed for it?" she asked.

“Over the past year, there has been event after event that has happened has just pressed down on women. There was the mother and baby home, the cervical check scandal, and now watching what happened to Sarah Everard."

Protesters profiled: “I shouldn’t have to prepare like that for leaving the house.” 

“Whenever I leave the house I wonder how I can defend myself if I’m attacked.”

That's according to Hannah Myers, one of the attendees at the Cork demonstration to protest violence against women.

Although she considers herself to be “feisty”, she feels so unsafe on the streets that she checks that she has a “weapon” - like keys to stab an attacker with or perfume to spray in their eyes - before leaving the house.

She hides when walking home from work at night if she sees a man who could be following her, ducking into doorways or waiting behind bushes until they pass.

“I always make sure that I’m prepared when I go out, so I’m always ready to fight if I need to. I guess that makes me scared to go out because I always have to mentally prepare myself.

“I shouldn’t have to prepare like that for leaving the house.” 

Ms Myers said that she attended the protest to stand up for women’s rights, their right to safety and their right to live as a free human beings like men do.

“People call women ‘bitches’ because that’s how we’re seen, as low as a female dog. Sometimes I wish I was a man so I could go out there and have a freer life,” she said.

Speaking out

Attendees were invited to take the microphone at the protest, all wearing masks and socially distanced.

Niamh Marshall, who did not know about the protest in advance but joined when she saw it unfold, took up the invitation, telling the crowd how she was taught by her parents to defend herself from men since she was a child.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, she said: “As we’ve seen, violence is at an all-time high. This is not going to go away unless we start, with this generation, to speak up."

As a woman of colour, she said that she was sexualised and fetishised from a young age.

“I was told by my dad how to defend myself. I was told by mother, ‘men are going to do this to you.’ There wasn’t an ‘if’.

“As a child you’re told, ‘oh if he pinches you it’s just because he likes you’, ‘oh, give your pervy uncle a hug’ … and I wanted to speak out about that.

“I’m tired of people trying to make me feel small. The small women who sits at home, hides her face, hides her body, I’m sick of it, these are our streets too,” she said.

Raising awareness

Kasey Kenny, 23, attended the protest to advocate for womens’ rights and to protest against sexual violence. She hopes that raising awareness about these issues will help to build a safer, better world for her little sister.

“I’m scared to walk on the streets alone, even in broad daylight, so I can’t imagine what it would be like for her in a few years so I want to try my best to limit that,” she said.

“It’s a long fight but these little protests help.”