At what stage would you speak up about abuse?

By Ilke Denker

A viral Instagram post caught my attention this week. A girl who decided to speak up against her abusive boyfriend, calling him out for who he is, even though she had received threats from him and his family. She posted picture of her wounds and talked about months of emotional abuse.

“I didn’t deserve any of this”, she ends her post.

What interests me about this post is who shared it, who commented and who showed support. I admire the victim for her bravery of speaking up and I am thinking about all the people out there who do not speak up about gender-based violence, sexual assault and emotional abuse. I am talking about both victim and bystander.

So, my question is a simple one: At what stage would speak up?

Would you speak up if the victim was your friend/mother/sister?

Things are always different when they hit close to home. If someone who was truly close to you was abused sexually or emotionally, would you speak up about it? Would you name and shame and make sure that the world knew about an abuser that dared to lay hands on someone who is close to your heart?

Would you speak up if the abuser was your friend/brother/father?

There’s this attachment we have to abusers who are connected to us by friendship or blood. So, if you knew that someone in your close circle was abusive, what would you do? Would you speak up about it? Would you cut ties and would this action be enough?

Would you speak up if you were the victim?

If someone assaulted you sexually or gave you emotional abuse, would you speak up about it? Would you feel like you had a safe place in society to say, “I was hurt by this person, it is not right, and he should be punished for it”? Whether it was someone you did not know on a night out or if it is someone who is in your own home or close to you, would you speak up?

What is society saying about the topic “abuse”?

From the bottom of my heart, I wish we would live in a society where the topic of abuse was not left in the shadows and the perpetrators were not left to roam and abuse more people.

In the Instagram post the girl wrote: “I’m not here to tell my story simply because I’m hurt that he emotionally abused me all throughout our relationship but because I cannot sleep at night knowing that other women’s lives might be in danger too.”

Isn’t that one hell of a reason to be speaking up? To protect each other, because at the end of the day, any of us could be the victim.

If we keep on being quiet about abusive people, aren’t we putting others in danger? This includes bystanders of any form as well. No attachment should be strong enough to keep you from speaking up if you know an abusive person.

I am not blaming one single person who has been abused but has not spoken up. I am blaming society who has not created a safe environment for a victim to come out and speak their truth.

We are all to blame.

Marine protection legislation – Equality for all life.

By Amber Gilgan

Warning: This story contains imagery that some viewers may find upsetting

By now I am sure that most of us have either watched or heard of the new Netflix documentary ‘Seaspiracy’, and are deeply disturbed by what it reveals. In this documentary Ali Tabrizi highlights the issues of pollution, the act of ‘whaling’ and commercial fishing, sending viewers into stages of shock with the gruesome exposure to footage of whales and dolphins being brutally killed. As many of us are from constituent countries of the European Union, it is of interest that we try to understand marine protection legislation in Ireland and the EU, and what exactly is being done to implement effective measures so that our marine life is protected.

In Ireland, the Whale Fisheries Act of 1937 was the first piece of legislation that aimed to protect marine life however it only applied to Baleen whales. It was not until the Wildlife Act 1976 that certain flora an fauna in Ireland were protected under legislation with marine mammals such as dolphin species, seal species and whale species all finally being included.

When looking at marine protection legislation and the European Union’s standing, the EU Habitats Directive is of high importance to every member state within the EU, as it relates to the conservation of threatened animal and plant species. Under this particular directive, member states must report to the EU commission about improvements that have been made regarding the Habitats Directive. Such directives put pressure on the member states to actively partake in marine protection and it may be argued that without such a directive they would be less inclined to give much consideration to the issue.

Although the legislation and directives that are in place sound brilliant in theory, the problem of pollution around Ireland that is killing marine life is still of major concern. In 2018 a Marine Protection motion was held by Ms Grace O’Sullivan in which she hoped to tackle Ireland’s failure to protect oceans and seas around the nation. She spoke of sound pollution, which is caused by human activity such as industrial shipping or oil exploration, which has a massively negative impact on sea life.

The treatment of the whales and dolphins in ‘Seaspiracy’ is what may have troubled viewers the most. ‘Whaling’ is defined as the occupation of killing whales and extracting commercial products from them, such as using whales for their meat and blubber. In 1995 an International Whaling Motion was held in the Seanad in which Mrs Madeleine Taylor-Quinn spoke of the importance of using this convention to publicly condemn the Faroese Government for how the whale hunt and kill is carried out. The Faroe Islands are a group of tiny islands under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Denmark, that allow for whale hunting and killing for food purposes.

A shocking news article from the BBC told the story of Alastair Ward, a student at Cambridge University, who witnessed the local ‘whale driving’ himself and took images of the violence. He was disturbed by what he witnessed and the methods of the whale killings telling Triangle News Agency that “The squealing from the whales was horrible” as they hacked them with knives. This event was said to have turned the sea red, and footage of these hunts have recently resurfaced in ‘Seaspiracy’ with viewers getting so upset by what they saw that they have vowed to not eat fish again.

But will the airing of this documentary and the revelation of the dangers marine life face as a result of human activity be enough to influence society to do more for marine protection? Possibly, however, more equal budgeting from the government is needed towards conservation projects and more active participation and mindfulness from the public in raising awareness of the issue. We need to utilise the shock we experienced from the exposure to such gruesome imagery and footage and allow for it to help us make a difference before it is too late.

NaMSoc’s first ever event tackles the issue of period poverty head-on

By Saoirse Higgins

The Nursing and Midwifery Society’s first event started off with a bang with the head of Homeless Period Ireland donating period products to NUI Galway to help combat period poverty.

The Nursing and Midwifery Society (NaMSoc) held their first ever event in late March.

They ventured into the topical discussion of period poverty with two speakers taking the stage, Claire Hunt of Homeless Period Ireland and NUI Galway Students’ Union Welfare and Equality Officer, Róisín Nic Lochlainn.

Auditor of NaMSoc, Hannah Flaherty, began the talk explaining their choice of topic; “For our first ever event, we knew we’d want to address important topics”.

Plan International recently released statistics that showed that 50% of girls in Ireland aged 12 to 18 have struggled to pay for period products. 55% of girls said they felt embarrassed by their period.

“I remember I wanted to go to India to address period poverty over there, when it’s literally on my doorstep,” Hannah added.

Claire Hunt then began her talk, explaining the work of her volunteer organisation Homeless Period Ireland. At Homeless Period, they donate period products to the likes of food banks, women’s centres, and Direct Provision centres.

“Period poverty affects more people in our communities than we realise,” Claire explained.

Claire argued that it was ridiculous that period poverty existed in Ireland in this day and age, “it’s so wrong that in 2021 people are thanking you for getting them pads”.

Róisín Nic Lochlainn then took over the talk and discussed how period poverty is present in NUI Galway.

Róisín explained that period poverty very much exists within the confines of college campuses;

“There are several measures in place to help with period poverty in NUI Galway already, such as if you email the Students’ Union, they will send you a period pack. However, all agree that this is not sufficient.

“Currently these period packs are funded by the Students’ Union, which is funded by the student levy fee. Róisín calculated that it would cost somewhere between €200-400 a month to provide free period products in bathrooms across NUI Galway.

“There is no reason NUI Galway couldn’t pay this, it’s the cost of one repeat fee,” Róisín remarked.

“Students are by no means rich, NUI Galway has the highest amount of SUSI recipients in the country,” she continued.

Róisín went on to explain simple things that could be done to face the issue of period poverty, ranging from surveys to education sessions.

At this point, NUI Galway’s Societies Officer Riona Hughes chimed in to show her urgency on the issue of period poverty, “the time for talking is over, let’s have it as a priority,” she argued adamantly.

She expressed to Róisín, and to all of those at the virtual meeting, that it was better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission and thinks that action should be taken as soon as possible.

She argued that someone should seek out a means whereby period products are stored on campus and can be easily accessed.

Claire Hunt loved the idea and to get the cause started she said she would donate period products to the Students’ Union, “I’m happy to donate sustainable products and kickstart the campaign”.

Róisín also added that she and a member of the University Management Team are currently working on a proposal that details the actions the University should take to eradicate period poverty on campus. The proposal will be submitted to the University Management Team in the coming weeks.

“I hope this year we will see things go in the right direction,” Claire concluded.