A huge vibrant and successful rally and march took place in Belfast on Saturday 25th April 2026 against the ongoing epidemic of femicide in Northern Ireland. The event was organized by ROSA, the socialist feminist organisation, which organises North and South of the Irish border. Under the banner “Not One More” thousands took to the streets of Belfast to protest and campaign for an end to femicide and violence against women and girls.
Femicide – the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender – has become a major issue in Northern Ireland with rates higher than many other parts of the world and the rest of the UK.
Thirty women have been brutally murdered since 2020. In the majority of cases the killers or suspected killers were known to their victims and all but one of the murders were carried out by men. Northern Ireland has been described by government officials as the most dangerous place to be a woman in the UK. Women are twice as likely to be killed by a partner or known person compared to England, Wales or Scotland. The Police Service Of Northern Ireland (PSNI) handles a domestic abuse incident every 16 -18 minutes.
Northern Ireland is in a post-conflict period. It is believed that the thirty plus years of violence and murders by the state and paramilitary groups have led to the normalization of violence. There is no doubt the conflict has had a negative impact on society especially in the most deprived areas in both Catholic and Protestant communities. The paramilitaries still exist and from time to time display a show of strength. Groups of armed men in dark clothes wearing balaclavas let the communities and the state know who is in charge. We got a reminder of it on Saturday evening when the new IRA highjacked a delivery van and forced the driver to drive a bomb outside a police station on the outskirts of Belfast. As the PSNI (police) were evacuating people from their homes the bomb went off. It was sheer luck no one died or got injured.
On top of all of this we have a severe lack of funding to support women attempting to leave violent relationships. Women’s Aid, a front line service providing refuges for woman, are having to turn women away due to a lack of funding.
The impact on young men of the online misogyny led by so called influencers such as Andrew Tate is widespread across all social media platforms. The lack of proper education in our schools due to underfunding is leaving many young men vulnerable to this macho culture and often leads to increased aggression and violence.
ROSA took a very good initiative supported significantly by Unite the Union which had a lively contingent on the march and also arranged buses to bring protestors from Dublin and the North West. Other unions were there but in smaller numbers. All of the unions should get behind the campaign and actively get involved. This epidemic is a societal issue. The organisations of the working class plus all other left and feminist groups need to come together to give it the urgency that is required. ROSA has a five point immediate action programme to tackle the gender violence epidemic. The headline of each point is self-explanatory.
1) Increased funding for community emergency and survivor services.
2)Factual age appropriate consent based LGBTQ inclusive sex education in all schools.
3) Action on housing and employment precarity to increase options for victims.
4) “Shame must change sides”. End retraumatisation and victim blaming in the courts.
5) Step into Action- join together in a social movement to eradicate misogyny queerphobia and patriarchy.
The Action Plan should be brought up in all workplace / trade union branches for discussion with a view to adopting the plan or come up with a similar Action Plan. All Student Unions and school student organizations and other activist groups should do the same. Only a united mass movement will win victories on a scale that is necessary to begin to tackle the epidemic of femicide and violence against women and girls.
For a complete end we need to change how society is organised not only in Ireland North and South but internationally.
