Sarah Harte: Time for a new beginning after another year of violence against women

In February, not long after Russia’s invasion, reports emerged about the use of rape by Russian forces against girls and women in Ukraine.

In March in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s decree forbade girls and women to attend secondary school or to enter the workforce undermining two decades of educational and economic progress.

In April, a jury convicted four men of a range of sexual assaults on a teenage girl in a car six years ago. On St Stephens night the then 17-year-old became separated from her friends, taking a lift from five men at the end of a night out in Tullamore, Offaly. The judge said the men “behaved like animals” and that the “depravity” was “absolutely shocking”.

In May, it was reported that there was a 250% rise in Irish web searches for Ukrainian escorts. The largest Irish website of its kind, Escorts Ireland, offered men the opportunity to live out their war-time inspired fantasies.

In this paper, Liz Dunphy reported, how an anti-trafficking expert said that “ war is great for the sex trade”.

In June, Roe versus Wade was overturned. Many principled people welcomed this as good news. A contrary view is that this seismic decision represented a rollback of women’s rights, potentially erasing human rights and decades of economic gains for US women.

During the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp defamation trial in Virginia, USA, it was revealed that Depp had fantasised in texts to friends about murdering his then-wife. Depp wrote: “I will fuck her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she’s dead”. 

The trial was described as an orgy of misogyny. Certainly, comments I heard made by an Irish radio host and his American male guest about Heard confirmed that impression.

In July, former Garda Paul Moody was jailed for the coercive control of his terminally ill partner Nicola.

In August, Dean Ward, was jailed for 17 years for the rape, assault, and coercive control of his partner. He monitored her whereabouts, mobile phone use, and removed her contraceptive device as she slept.

In September, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in an Iranian hospital days after being detained by the regime’s morality police for allegedly not complying with the country’s hijab regulations. Women in Iran posted videos of themselves cutting off their hair in protest.

In November, Jordan McSweeney admitted sexually assaulting and murdering law school graduate Zara Aleena as she walked home in London after a night out. Zara Aleena died from multiple injuries after she was kicked and stamped on by McSweeney. Her family held a silent vigil in her memory to highlight what they said was an epidemic of violence against young women in London.

In December, Michael Leonard was sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to the murder of 72-year-old Mary O’Keeffe when he set fire to her car by pouring gallons of petrol on it. She had broken up with him.

Broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson wrote about Meghan Markle in his column for The Sun: “At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she [Meghan] is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her.” This prompted a record 20,800 complaints to the British press regulator and his column was removed from the paper’s website.

Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of rape, although the jury remained divided on three other charges of rape by two other accusers, including Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California’s governor. Plaintiffs’ accounts must be tested and considered critically like any other evidence. However, after the verdict, Siebel Newsom said: “Throughout the trial, Weinstein’s lawyers used sexism, misogyny, and bullying tactics to intimidate, demean, and ridicule us, survivors. This trial was a stark reminder that we as a society have work to do.” In their opening statement, Weinstein’s defence team referred to Sibel Newsom as “a bimbo”.

The Taliban banned university education for Afghan girls.

It was reported teenage girls in care were brought to Dublin hotels and sexually abused by older men as part of a child exploitation ring.

Power and control

These various happenings say several things. Some men believe that they have a right to have power and control over women even if that means raping or murdering them.

Some male public figures still feel entitled to indulge in misogynistic rants.

We are living through a backlash to the #MeToo movement. When it’s perceived the needle has moved too far towards female equality it’s time for a re-correction.

According to Harvard political scientists, the rising tide of misogyny can also be attributed to the rise of autocracy and patriarchy around the world. “Strongmen” (and weirdly women like Italy’s Giorgia Meloni which is like turkeys voting for Christmas) push the narrative that it’s time for a return to “traditional values” which is a fig leaf for something far less benign.

Or as Caroline Hickson, European director at International Planned Parenthood, put it: “Women’s rights are often the first point of entry to rolling back the rule of law and democracy.”

The good news is that there is pushback from men because we won’t change the epidemic of misogyny without their help. When Mahsa Amini was murdered Iranian boys and men protested beside women and girls.

In the wake of Paul Moody’s trial, Detective Inspector Cormac Brennan said to any victim of domestic abuse coming forward: “You will be believed.”

Comedian John Bishop is my hero of the year for his articulate clap back at Clarkson. He tweeted: “WTF is this? I don’t care who you are or whom you work for you simply cannot write things like this. It is a blatant appeal to incite humiliation and violence on a woman. Some have excused it as dark humour. There is [no] joke here @JeremyClarkson and no excuse.”

Like Siebel Newsom said, there’s work to be done. Let’s start in our own backyard. We have a young female minister for justice, who doubtless will have been on the receiving end of institutional and everyday misogyny. Hurry back minister and let’s get cracking.