Femicide is an emergency that Ireland has to deal with now 

We cannot hope to prevent the epidemic of gender-based violence if the State is unable to even define femicide, writes LOURDA SCOTT

A vigil at Leinster House two days after the murder on January 12, 2022, of Ashling Murphy who was attacked while jogging along the Grand Canal in Tullamore, Co Offaly. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

Three years ago, I stood with a group of women, shivering beside the sea in Co Wicklow on a cold January afternoon.

“Something needs to change,” we told each other in hushed voices as we lit candles in memory of Ashling Murphy, who had been murdered a week earlier. Since then, at least 28 more women have been killed by men.

In 2025, the Christmas decorations are barely packed away, and three women have already been murdered. A woman, or girl, killed by a man because of her gender — femicide. Yet the Irish legal and criminal systems don’t recognise the term and there isn’t a universally agreed definition.

If we can’t define a crime, how can we hope to prevent it?

The European Institute for Gender Equality recommends the collection of accurate and comparable data on femicide across EU member states.

Data is important because it informs policymaking. It tells our politicians what needs to be prioritised and where resources should be allocated. Yet, no official statistics on femicide exist in Ireland. We rely on non-official sources, such as Women’s Aid Femicide Watch, which has been recording statistics since 1996 using newspaper and online news records.

Ashling Murphy's mother Kathleen, father Raymond, and sister Amy outside The Criminal Courts of Justice after Jozef Puska was found guilty of her murder. Picture: Collins Courts

Make no mistake, the statistics are grim. 

In Ireland, Women’s Aid reports, at least 273 women have died violently from 1996 to the present.

Behind each statistic is a sister, daughter, friend, wife, partner — each with families left behind, picking up the pieces after unbearable loss.

Like many women, I carry internalised fear with me every day. I scan for danger, assess who is around, and note how brightly lit the area is. When I run, I feel guilty for using headphones. It’s been drilled into me that it’s my responsibility to stay aware of my surroundings and possible perpetrators.

Most femicide victims knew their killer 

I have the privilege of leaving this fear behind when I cross the threshold of my home. Yet, despite being taught to fear ‘stranger danger’, the vast majority of deaths are at the hands of a man known to the victim. 

The UN’s 2023 global study on femicide reveals that 140 women and girls lose their lives every day at the hands of a partner or close relative. Every woman and girl should have the right to feel safe at home, not fear violence within it.

It’s clear that femicide is happening all around us. The newly drafted programme for government acknowledges the “epidemic of gender-based violence” but doesn’t refer to femicide, the most extreme manifestation of it.

Without an agreed definition when gathering criminal statistics, national femicide rates continue to be underreported. Without this definition, it is difficult to assess trends and develop strategies to address the rates. 

National and international reports on femicide consistently refer to the lack of reliable data. This is especially true of femicide associated with practices such as female genital mutilation and crimes linked to sexual orientation.

By failing to name a problem, we fail to act with the urgency needed. 

By naming a crime, we can count it and prioritise it.

Women and girls deserve to be prioritised. We’re good at making women invisible in Ireland. We’ve sent them to Britain or to laundries. During covid, men led the decision-making. 

No surprise that women continued to give birth alone while the rest of the country went to the pubs. In media reports about gender-based violence, women’s names are often erased, particularly in domestic violence cases. 

Women’s voices are absent in the Dáil, with only 25% of recent TDs being female and a paltry three female Cabinet ministers.

The solutions to gender based violence are wide-ranging and complex, being rooted in misogyny and power imbalance. 

Making femicide a legally-recognised crime is a necessary step in addressing this. It’s beginning to happen worldwide and it’s time for Ireland to follow suit.

As a nation of poets and scholars, we know how powerful words can be. The use of unambiguous language is one way to shine a light into the dark corners of violence.

I challenge the new Government to act with urgency and make femicide a crime. To act like there’s an emergency, because there is one. An epidemic of violence against women and girls is happening around us in broad daylight, yet in the corridors of power we hear silence. We cannot continue like this. Something needs to change.

• Lourda Scott is a Green Party councillor

• Women’s Aid Femicide Watch is continuously updated, with three further women added to it already this year.  

• If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.