Emma deSouza: Too many women in Northern Ireland are dying at the hands of men

Northern Ireland's violence is not in the past — it's merely retreated behind closed doors, where women bear the brunt, writes Emma deSouza

Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O'Neill outside Belfast's Parliament Buildings in January 2023 with Natalie McNally's brothers (left to right) Declan, Niall and Brendan during a vigil for women who have died in violent circumstances. File picture

“Violence against women and girls is the shame of our society and we must do everything possible to end it,” were the words of Declan McNally as he paid tribute to his sister Natalie, who was three months pregnant when she was murdered in 2022. 

This week in Belfast, her partner, Stephen McCullough, was found guilty of her murder. In the same week, a male suspect has been arrested and charged with the murder of 23-year-old Ellie Flanagan in Enniskillen, and police have launched a murder investigation into the killing of Amy Doherty, a young mother in Derry, murdered over the weekend.