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Rally calls for an end to violence against women and girls

Catherine MorrisonBBC News NI
News imageBBC Two women are holding homemade posters. One of the women has auburn hair tied back and her sunglasses are perched on her head. She's wearing a colourful top. Her banner says: end the violence. The woman next to her wears tortoiseshell glasses and is wearing a pink floral top. Her banner says: safe. Other words are out of shot. People are standing in the background in the street. BBC
Protesters called on Stormont to take emergency action on violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland

Hundreds of people have marched through Belfast City Centre calling for an end to violence against women and girls.

In the past six years alone, 30 women in Northern Ireland have been violently killed.

Chanting "not one more", protesters called on Stormont to take emergency action.

The family of Natalie McNally, who was murdered in 2022, took part. Her brother Brendan McNally said: "It's extremely important to show the resistance against the scourge of violence."

He told BBC News NI that events like these were important to allow people to make their voices heard.

He said as a brother of a woman who was murdered it's "a personal issue", adding: "I do believe it is a real civic issue that all people in Northern Ireland should be concerned about".

News imageBrendan McNally is wearing black glasses. He's wearing a teal shirt. Crowds of people are behind him in the street.
Brendan McNally, whose sister was murdered, said he's concerned about violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland

McNally said he's "deeply concerned" about the issue of femicide and violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland.

He added: "We are determined to see change and justice."

News imageEva Martin is looking into the camera. She has long brown hair. Sunglasses are on top of her head. People are standing in the background behind her,
Eva Martin, one of the organisers, said the protest was about showing solidarity for victims and survivors of male violence

People gathered outside Laganside courts complex before walking to the City Hall.

The protest was organised by ROSA, a socialist feminist movement.

Eva Martin, one of the organisers, said it was about sending a clear message for change, but also showing solidarity for victims and survivors of male violence.

Martin said gendered violence is an epidemic and needs to be treated as an emergency.

"One protest is not going to solve this issue and one change in legislation is not going to change this issue," she said.

News imageA large crowd are standing on a road. Many are holding banners that says solidarity. Some people are holding photos of women. Shops in a high street are in the background.
The people taking part in the rally walked from the courts to Belfast City Hall

Martin called for emergency funding for front line services that deal with victims, reforms around sex education, more social housing, and an end to what she described as misogyny within the judicial system.

"Really if we are to reckon with the roots of gendered based violence, and reckon with the roots of violence against women, that will require societal transformation."

But Martin added that there are steps Stormont can take in the short term to tackle the "worst consequences" of violence against women and girls.

News imageGillian Lennon is smiling. Her hair is blond. She's wearing a pink cap and a navy top that says White Ribbon NI. Shes holding a banner that says not 1 more.
Gillian Lennon, who works for White Ribbon NI, said "violence is very normalised"

Gillian Lennon, who works for White Ribbon NI, says: "It's the attitudes and the beliefs that we can challenge."

"I think it's incredible to see so many people come together for the same cause."

She said "violence is very normalised," but believes that can be changed by having "conversations before it moves into those really harmful behaviours".