Fine Gael TD for Dún Laoghaire, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, today (Thursday) calls for all women to be aware of the risk factors of domestic abuse in relation to themselves or close friends and family, in order to improve response times and prevent future deaths. Deputy Mitchell O’Connor was speaking following the Women’s Aid minute’s silence which she took part in out the Dáil this morning.

“Today I took part in the Women’s Aid one minute’s silence in remembrance of the 78 women murdered in Ireland by their partners or ex-partners since 1996. We also remembered the 10 children who were murdered alongside their mothers.

The motivation behind the minute’s silence was to encourage people to think about the signs of domestic abuse and to be aware of these for yourself, or in order to watch out for friends and family.

In 2013, there were almost 18,000 incidents of domestic violence disclosed to the Women’s Aid National Freephone Helpline. In the same year, 575 incidents of sexual abuse were disclosed to Helpline support workers including 201 rapes. In extreme cases domestic abuse can result in death.

It is frightening to think that one in every two women murdered is killed by a current or former boyfriend, partner or husband. For the 78 women and 10 children we were remembering today, Women’s Aid laid out 88 pairs of shoes reminding us that these were real people who found themselves in terrible situations.

People find domestic abuse very difficult to deal with. Irish people in particular are conscious of invading somebody’s privacy as we don’t want to be accused of interfering. However it is vital that people in relationships are aware that physical abuse, threats to kill, controlling behaviour, stalking and harassment are not normal. People who think any of things may be happening to someone else, should speak out. It is also important to be aware that times of separation can often be most dangerous for women in abusive relationships.

I would appeal to everyone, women especially, to be aware of the risk factors involved in domestic abuse, to ask for help and to try to stop the cycle of violence. I would also like to pass on my condolences to the families of the women remembered today.”