Vicious attempted rape reminder of violence women face daily

» Peadar Whelan

Sinn Féin Councillor Mary Clarke called on the community to expose the sex attackers, reminding families that ‘no woman is safe while these men are running around’

THE vicious attack and attempted rape of a north Belfast mother of three on Sunday 17 November is a stark reminder of the misogynist violence women face day and daily.

The assault took place in Ardoyne in the early hours of the morning as 52-year-old Donna Hawkins made her way home from a charity function in a local club

A three-man gang repeatedly kicked and punched Donna as they tried to tear her clothes off. She said one of the gang was yelling “Get the bitch!”

Reacting to news of this brutal attempted rape, Sinn Féin Councillor Mary Clarke called on the community to expose the sex attackers, reminding families that “no woman is safe while these men are running around”.

News of this latest sex attack came just days after the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in the North, Brendan McGuigan, found that “the majority of rape cases are directed for no prosecution”.

McGuigan was commenting in his report Domestic Violence and Abuse: A Follow-up Review (released on 29 October) in which he disclosed that 12 out of 13 recommendations made in a previous report calling for improvements in how domestic violence was handled have still to be implemented.

In its 2010 report, the Criminal Justice Inspection (CJI) urged the PSNI to adopt a more consistent approach to how officers respond to incidents of domestic violence and abuse. It also recommended the PSNI review the role of the domestic abuse officer and consider training a proportion of officers working in this area to higher investigative standards.

Responding to these findings, Sinn Féin MLA and Junior Minister Jennifer McCann accused the PSNI and the criminal justice system of not doing enough to protect those subjected to domestic violence.

“This report shows once again that domestic violence is not viewed as a serious crime to be tackled and pursued in the way that other crimes are,” Jennifer said. “The fact that only one of 13 recommendations made three years ago to improve the PSNI’s handling of domestic violence have been achieved has let those targeted in domestic violence down.”