DUBLIN — The murder in broad daylight of a 23-year-old schoolteacher who had been jogging on a well-frequented path along a canal last week has set off a storm of anger and shock across Ireland over women’s safety.
Ashling Murphy, a first-grade teacher who was just qualified, was strangled to death while she was running along County Offaly’s Grand Canal, near Tullamore, west of Dublin. The attack occurred around 4 p.m., on a stretch that is very popular with cyclists, runners, and walkers.
Jozef Puska (a 31-year old Slovakian man) was charged with murder by the police on Wednesday. Police said that Mr. Puska lived in County Offaly. The suspect was taken to Tullamore district court where he denied all charges. He was taken into custody and was scheduled to appear in court next week.
The arrest followed days of mounting public outrage about the killing of Ms. Murphy, with vigils held for her across Ireland, and by Irish communities and women’s groups abroad.
“The killing of Ashling Murphy in broad daylight, while out jogging, highlighted to us all that there is no behavior that women can change to make us safer, and that it is men’s behavior and ultimately our culture that must transform,” said Orla O’Connor, director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland.
Many parks and paths are filled with runners’ favorites, where they were met by spontaneous tributes of flowers and candles. The phrase, “She was just going for a run,” spread across social media and was picked up in public tributes to Ms. Murphy.
The president of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, and Prime Minister Michael Martin attended Ms. Murphy’s funeral, which was broadcast on national television on Tuesday from her home village, Mountbolus.
Students from her first-grade class stood in cold holding photos and red roses of Ms. Murphy. A spontaneous gathering of traditional folk music musicians provided a musical tribute.
The National Women’s Council of Ireland said that 244 women had died violently in Ireland since 1996, including seven last year.
Professor Mary McAuliffe at University College Dublin, who studies violence against women and is director of gender studies, said that Ms. Murphy’s murder had caused a lot of shock and outrage due to the nature and location of the attack.
“It’s not about being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said. “As a woman you are just coming home from work, going out, living your life, and every moment can be your last.”
Two young women were murdered last year, Sarah Everard, and Sabina Nessea. Similar outrage and anger was felt in Britain and calls for greater safety for women.
Professor McAuliffe noted that Irish feminism made great strides over the past 50-years in areas such as the workplace and reproductive rights. She also highlighted the importance of access to divorce. Despite the improvement in social attitudes, Ireland still has a misogynic culture that encourages harassment, rape, and violence, she said.
“There is legislation against hate crimes like racism, homophobia, transgender discrimination and sectarianism, but misogyny is a gray area,” Professor McAuliffe said. “There’s a continuum with street harassment at one end, and rape and lethal violence at the other end.”
The Irish minister for justice, Helen McEntee, said in Parliament this week that she would press for new laws to outlaw gender-based hatred and for an increase in funding for women’s shelters and other measures to protect women against violent abuse. She stated that it was important to educate both men and boys about their behavior and to help them understand it.
“To prevent violence and abuse against women, we must eradicate the social and cultural attitudes which make women feel unsafe,” Ms. McEntee said.
“We can only do so by changing our culture to ensure we are not all bystanders,” she said. “That we don’t just look the other way but call out inappropriate behavior when we see it, everywhere we see it. The workplace, the dressing room, the pub, the golf club and the WhatsApp group.”
Source: NY Times
