Women living in fear after attacks, councillor says

Women and girls in Londonderry are living in fear and feel forced to think of ways to protect themselves following a number of attacks, a former mayor of the city has said.

Sinn Féin councillor Sandra Duffy, who sits on the local Policing and Community Safety Partnership, said women were photographing taxis before getting in, sending their location to friends when out walking and arranging self defence classes.

She said there was a “real feeling of fear right across the city”.

At the weekend two women were attacked in the city's Waterside and police are investigating whether the same man was involved in both incidents.

“Women are feeling the strain,” the former mayor of Derry and Strabane said.

“They are feeling, what more can we do to protect ourselves because there is nothing more that we can do.

"A lot of the women I am talking to, they’re arranging self-defence classes. There are free classes being run right across the city."

On Friday night a woman was assaulted at knifepoint in Drumahoe, while on Saturday afternoon a woman walking her dog in Top of the Hill was approached by a man holding a kitchen knife.

The weekend attacks both happened in parks in the Waterside area and the incidents were about 2.5 miles apart.

Duffy said the current situation was "unacceptable".

“We now need men to stand and be our allies in relation to these attacks because women are feeling afraid," she added.

Justice Minister Naomi Long said people were distressed and angry following the attacks and that women were "terrified”.

“It’s unthinkable that women in this day and age can’t walk about in their own community, can’t go and do basic things without being under the threat of this kind of violence,” she told BBC News NI.

“We have got to tackle this epidemic of violence in our society targeted at women and girls.

"We have got to start tackling those attitudes and that culture that treats women’s lives as though they are expendable.”

Louise Ryan and Maeve McLaughlin are students at Ulster University in Derry and said they are constantly worried about their safety, especially on nights out.

“My mammy makes me text her every time I’m going anywhere,” Louise said.

“I text her when I’m about to go out, who I'm going with, what bar I'm in and then when and how I’m getting home.

“It’s sad to say but I wouldn’t go anywhere alone right now, for us we always try and get home in a big group or mainly with our male friends - which isn't fair.”

Maeve said she thinks recent events in the city just highlight how dangerous it is to be a woman in Northern Ireland.

"I think this isn't just a Derry problem, it's a problem right across the north," she said.

"It's sad and I think women in general are being let down, it shouldn't be like this."

On Monday, Ch Supt Gillian Kearney, Derry’s most senior police officer, said the police response - which includes increased patrols in the city’s centre and parks – will continue for "as long as it has to", to make sure people feel reassured and supported across the district".

Ch Supt Kearney said the police investigation into the attacks at the weekend was "progressing at pace", adding that police were following a number of lines of inquiry.

"If you notice someone acting suspiciously or if someone’s behaviour causes concern do not approach, but contact police immediately," she said.