Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The events of the past week have had a profound impact on our country. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere condolences to Ashling's family and to her boyfriend, friends, colleagues and all who knew and loved her. I hope that they take some solace from knowing that a nation stands behind them and that at vigils up and down the country people came together to share their heartbreak and anger. Many people have talked about this as a watershed moment and I truly hope that is right because too many women have tragically died from violence. This week, too many families had wounds reopened and too many communities, including my own in Lucan, relived the trauma of losing a woman to violence.

There is a spectrum of misogyny and abuse towards women. On one end of it, there is catcalling and lad banter, while on the other sits physical abuse, rape and murder. We need to acknowledge that all these actions are connected and that both ends of that spectrum are fuelled by a lack of respect and misogynistic attitudes towards women and girls. Violence against women finds its roots in the normalisation of actions and comments that objectify and disrespect women and girls every single day in our WhatsApp groups, locker rooms, media and politics. It is on our streets and along our canals. While the murder of a woman may be rare, it is not rare enough. As has been said all too many times, it is not all men but it is all women. Sadly, all women have a story to tell of feeling uncomfortable, demeaned, unsafe, scared, threatened and fearful. The fact that all women can relate to these experiences tells us all we need to know about the culture of disrespect towards women and violence against them.

We need action to change that in our homes, classrooms, workplaces, WhatsApp groups and among our friends and families. We also need action at the top among our lawmakers and enforcers. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, has today outlined new laws that will make stalking and choking stand-alone offences, in addition to the new third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, which will be our most ambitious yet and will focus on prevention, protection, prosecution and policies. It will have an overarching ambition to make sure that the punishment fits the crime because that is how we get zero tolerance.

We should not know Ashling Murphy's name. We should not now recognise her face because of media coverage, but we do. She tragically joins a long and shameful list of women who have died violently at the hands of men. We cannot let another year go by in which we look back at these women's lives and remember them only for how they died. Let this be the year we remember the change they sparked in Irish society. Let this be the year we all do better.

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