Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We stand here month after month, year after year talking about dead women, raped women, murdered women and beaten women. Each time, we say “Never again, this is it now, no more. This is a watershed moment”. Then the beating, murdering and raping happens again and we do all this all over again, as girls and women’s names become hashtags or are carried on placards at candlelit vigils while we mourn.

The Cathal Crotty case and his savage beating of Natasha O’Brien is the latest outrage. The case of the lad trained by the State in combat, as appalling as it is, is not the sole outrage. In our disgust we should not forget that in Natasha’s case, it was the Judiciary that also let her down. The suspended sentence came from another male-dominated arm of the State. How is that for culture? It is the same culture that makes women fight in the courts for maintenance and in which there is more abuse, more psychological and emotional violence against women such as the lovely woman in my constituency I spoke to last week. It is everywhere. This, too, is an outrage.

This week alone we heard of a woman anally raped by her husband who was confused about consent, God love him. We heard about Bláthnaid Raleigh who was raped with a bottle. These men are entitled, are they not? The men who are confused and the men with the fists, implements and uniforms. As my party's defence spokesperson, I speak for the Women of Honour because we know rape and any sexual violation is primarily a crime not about sex but about power, control and subjugation. Fine Gael, the law and order party, has been in power for 13 years, yet we do not have data about what is going on. Talk is cheap. Action is what is needed.

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