Ex-cop says fight against female violence is ‘bleak' as 25 killed in the last five years

Sunday World

23-05-2025

SHOCKING |
'The battle to end violence against women and girls remains stagnant. The harsh reality for many victims remains bleak'
Linzi McLaren, who was elected as a new UUP councillor two years ago, was a serving frontline PSNI officer and often witnessed the scale of the violence meted out to women and girls.
She tells the Sunday World why she's so passionate about ending violence against women and girls (VAWG) and that despite progress at Stormont to legislate against it, 'the reality for many women remains bleak'.
And the figures are truly shocking – from 2020 up to January this year 25 women had been violently killed – all but one by a man – with 42 confirmed femicides since 2017.
Among them are high-profile cases like 21-year-old Katie Simpson who was raped, beaten and murdered by her sister's boyfriend in 2020, and 30-year-old mother-of-four Caoimhe Morgan who was beaten to death by her partner a few days before Christmas 2021.
'In Northern Ireland, the battle to end violence against women and girls remains frustratingly stagnant. Despite legislative progress and commitments from statutory bodies to prioritise this emergency, the reality for many women remains bleak,' Ms McLaran said.
Katie Simpson
'As a former police officer and now a councillor in Ards and North Down council, I have encountered many women in dire circumstances, and whilst we are certainly talking about the subject more openly we are yet to make a dent in the harrowing statistics, particularly in the wake of numerous tragic deaths and the increasingly unregulated online hostility toward women,' she says.
'As a police officer, I witnessed first hand the impact of physical, sexual, mental and financial abuse towards women. I attended many cases where women were beaten so badly that they needed hospitalisation and were left with lifelong mental and physical scars.
'Whilst officers receive specific training in dealing with such cases, many women and advocacy groups would suggest that it simply isn't enough, leaving many victims feeling as violated and abused by the justice system as by their perpetrators.
'I'm heartened by the priority that is being given to this by our new Chief Constable who recognises that our police service is woefully underfunded and understaffed.
'It is so desperately disheartening to see a woman be let down by the system that strips them of their dignity and calls into question their story of abuse.
'Women often speak of their loneliness during this process and the subsequent family court process if there are children in the equation.
'In such instances, women are forced to sit around the mediation table with the very man who has previously sexually or physically assaulted her, and many women understandably cannot garner the courage to do so.
'Finally securing a conviction, it is again disheartening to see meagre sentences handed down that does nothing but give weight to the notion that violence against women is not taken as seriously as it should. And so, the cycle of violence with little to no repercussions continues.
'I want to delve into the origins of where I believe women's vulnerabilities lie and why they are so susceptible to harm. Why we as a society, as police and as legislators, must be more proactive in preventing such instances occurring, rather than the current response of firefighting our way through the increasing number of attacks against women.'
Caoimhe Morgan.
The mother of four, who represents the Holywood and Clandeboye district, says the Troubles gave cover to VAWG.
'Where once the story of the death of a mother, a sister, a daughter at the hands of men would be buried amongst similarly horrific Troubles-related deaths, women's deaths can now be seen in the isolation they deserve.
'Violence against women and girls is now being seen in the stark, cold light of day, but I fear that if we do not make headway in tackling these crimes now, the frequency and normalisation will leave us numb and immune to the horror. Just another headline, another woman, another young girl.'
She says social media 'is generating an insidious threat to the minds of an emerging generation who have unrestricted access to harmful content and disturbing pornography.
'Young people, particularly boys, are consuming content that distorts their perception of relationships, consent and respect, forming the notion that intimacy is violent, humiliating, demeaning to women and inflicted on women by dominant men.
'As a police officer, I worked frequently alongside departments responsible for public protection, child abuse and online safety. As a search officer, I assisted in searching the homes of those accused of creating and distributing the most horrific, unimaginably evil, images of the abuse of children.
'These people continue to have the ability to hide on the dark web, despite an Online Safety Act which appears to have no impact on deterrent or punishment.'
Linzi McLaren
News in 90 Seconds - May 23rd
And she slams tech companies for failing to take action against those behind internet threats – something she suffered first hand when she received death threats for expressing public support for the building of Casement Park.
'I have personally reported abusive behaviour, inappropriate sexual messages, intimidation and threats online, only to receive notification that the abusive words directed toward me did not meet the necessary threshold for action.
'I know that a majority of women in public office have experienced the same. I can only assume therefore that social media platforms have granted a free reign to intimidate and silence women, given the total abject nature of enforcing accountability.'
She called on lawmakers to do more to hold tech companies to account but laments how US President Donald Trump has brought tech bosses like Elon Musk into his administration and so it is 'understandable why the influence of these men is apparently feared'.
In September 2024, the Northern Ireland Executive Office launched The Ending Violence Against Women and Girls strategic framework.
As part of a wider £3.2 million investment, this first step will see £2 million shared across all 11 councils to enable them to support action in their local areas.
Linzi accepts social media is here to stay and that she too grapples with guiding her three daughters and son through its dangers but that she's a 'fierce advocate' for education in schools. Read more
'RSE (relationship and sex education) in schools is, in my opinion, a means of safeguarding our young women against harm in the future by arming them with a sense of self-worth, an understanding of consent, the ability to identify a healthy relationship and autonomy over their bodies,' she says.
'Similarly, young men get the opportunity to do the same and have the chance to gain confidence in mature decisions. They would also be made aware of how to identify toxic male role models who distort young men's attitudes to women.
'Such role models teach misogyny and sexist behaviour, showing wrongly that power and influence can shield men from accountability.
'And yet, RSE has become somewhat of a political ideological debate, detracting from the very essence of what it aims to achieve.'
And she says it's important men are brought into the conversation.
'I am very conscious of the fact that when I attend events to highlight concerns, it's often a panel of women talking to an audience of women. It's absolutely essential that we involve our male counterparts in this discussion as their opinions and experience are so crucial to finding solutions.
'The world as we know it is changing. When men who are perpetrators of sexual crime and abuse toward women are catapulted to the most powerful offices in the world, instead of shunned and publicly shamed.'