The degree of violence against women is running at horrendous levels across our society, with the murder of Karen Cummins in Co Down representing yet another appalling development.
Ms Cummings (40), a mother of two who was a children’s nurse at Daisy Hill hospital in Newry, was found unconscious with a head injury in her home at Laurel Heights in Banbridge on Saturday evening.
She received emergency treatment at the scene for what was reportedly a gunshot wound but died a short time later, with police saying it was a “brutal and senseless” crime.
Ms Cummins was held in high regard by her family and friends, and vigils in her memory will be staged at both Solitude Park in Banbridge and Marcus Square in Newry at 6pm tomorrow (Thursday).
Two men have now been charged with murder, and are entitled to the legal presumption of innocence, but it is the wider statistics for Ireland and the UK which can only cause enormous concern.
Women’s Aid expressed their “deepest sympathies” and pointed out that Ms Cummings was the 25th woman to be killed in Northern Ireland since 2020 and the seventh this year.
A statement from the ROSA NI group said: “The number of femicides keeps rising here and elsewhere. Often it is in our own homes where women are most at risk. This must stop. We will keep fighting for a world free of gender violence.”
Data maintained by the Femicide Census website proves that violence directed by men against women is taking place at a consistently shocking rate in the UK, with the number of fatalities regularly between 124 and 168 annually over the last 15 years.
The fact that seven women have been killed so far in 2024 in Northern Ireland, which has less than three per cent of the overall UK population, indicates that femicide now has a disproportionately high presence in the region.
Statistics for the Republic show that 12 women were the victims of homicide offences last year, illustrating the threat which plainly exists on both sides of the border.
These are grim realities which must be treated with the utmost seriousness by the authorities, and there will be an expectation that all cases where men are found guilty of any form of violence against women will result in an immediate custodial sentence.
The tariffs imposed after murder convictions also need to reflect both the gravity of the crimes and to emphasise the need to protect other vulnerable women.
It is clear that some men believe they can inflict attack women without being held accountable for their actions, and it is up to the courts to demonstrate that they are wrong.
