Back
1 min read

Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Across the Island of Ireland

Report from the recent Conference organised by the All-Ireland Network on Sexual Violence Research prepared by Dr Eithne Dowds, School of law, Queen’s University Belfast

Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Across the Island of Ireland

On Monday 2nd September 2024 Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) School of Law hosted the All-Ireland Network on Sexual Violence Research (AINSVR) Conference on Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Across the Island of Ireland. While the network itself focuses on sexual violence, this is just one manifestation of the violence experienced by women and girls in our society. Indeed, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) globally about 1 in 3 (30%) of women worldwide have been subjected to either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Further to this, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) in England and Wales described violence against women and girls as a ‘national emergency’ and a ‘threat to society on the same scale as ‘terrorism’, following the release of figures revealing that one in 12 women are affected by crimes of stalking, harassment, sexual assault and domestic violence.

To read the report from the conference, please click here.


About the Author
Eithne Dowds
Dr Eithne Dowds is a senior lecturer in the School of Law at Queen's University Belfast. Her research intersects the areas of international criminal law, feminist legal theory, sexual offences and children born of sexual violence in conflict. Eithne is particularly interested in feminist strategies in international criminal law and the extent to which developments at the international criminal level might bear relevance to domestic law on sexual offences.