A chara, – As highlighted by "Gender-based violence – a global problem" (Caoimhe de Barra, Letters, February 12th), GBV is not only an Irish problem but also a European one. As the only full Irish member on the Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee in the European Parliament, I continuously raise this issue within the committee and through the plenary sessions of the European Parliament.
In the coming months, we expect a proposal to prevent and combat specific forms of gender-based violence to be put forward by the European Commission, building on its proposal to extend the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime that was put forward in December 2021.
These two measures will allow gender-based violence to be classified as a pan-European crime, as trafficking and money laundering currently are. By classifying GBV as a crime under the EU Treaties, the European Commission can put forward a strong directive that takes a holistic approach to eradicating GBV. This will be essential in ensuring that European women are protected from GBV no matter where they go in the continent.
The death of Ashling Murphy shocked us all. I will continue my work so that we can one day soon declare that Europe is the first continent to end GBV. – Yours, etc,
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FRANCES
FITZGERALD MEP,
European Parliament,
Brussels.
Sir, – Caoimhe de Barra’s insightful letter gave a long and detailed description of the issues of violence meted out globally to women and their children.
Yet her letter perfectly captures the fundamental issue at the heart of this matter: the linguistic whitewashing of those who commit this violence. Not once in her letter does she use the word man or men.
The plain, incontrovertible reality is that men are the ones who overwhelmingly commit these crimes.
Once upon a time in the faraway land of common sense, we used to call a spade a spade. So let’s try that.
Let us not talk about gender-based violence. Let us talk about men’s violence against women. Let us use the word man, not perpetrator, when speaking about a man found guilty of violence towards women. Let us not use the word victim, let us use the word woman.
Let us ensure our words reflect facts instead of allowing disingenuous verbal neutrality to obscure the reality of who overwhelmingly, consistently and globally visits violence upon women. – Yours, etc,
PATRICIA MULKEEN,
Ballinfull,
Sligo.