Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

"We are not scared. We are not afraid. We shall not obey." These were the cries that rang out on the streets of Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir at the weekend. There were demonstrations of women and girls holding pictures of women who had died as a result of male violence and protesting against the withdrawal of the Turkish Government from the Istanbul Convention, which directs prosecution for domestic violence, marital rape and female genital mutilation.

These women and girls and the men who support them were protesting in a country where femicide is a daily reality. The number of femicides in Turkey has tripled since 2010. There were 474 in 2019 alone. Of course, it is a scandal that Turkey has withdrawn from the Istanbul Convention, but it should also be a signal to people campaigning for women's rights throughout Europe to step up the fight. Doing so includes putting pressure on the likes of this Government, which continues to say the right things while starving organisations campaigning to combat domestic violence of the funding they need.

See this speech in context