Domestic Violence

Happy International Women’s Day! (but not for all of us)

Violence against Women
| Sally O'Reilly
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So, here we are again. Every Year since 1908 we have celebrated International Women’s Day and while we have made huge strides in some areas, we have a very long way to go. 

Much has been written in the lead up to today. And much of it grim. I won’t go into the Tuam babies thing here.. (2018 edit –  Weinstein, #MeToo, Repeal the 8th debate, the women-being-ordained question, the sordid details of the rape (victim) trial, the pick-your-own-horror-story… ).To mark the day I thought I’d post a compilation of important pieces about how women are (still) being treated in the 21st century. It’s not terrifically cheery reading so you might want to stop now. I understand, I really do.

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Abusive relationships: know the signs

| Sally O'Reilly
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It can be hard to know how to define abuse, and when we are ‘in’ an abusive situation, it can be hard to ‘see’ that it’s abusive. But you might have a niggling feeling, your friends or family may have expressed concern. Abuse can be lethal.

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The Twelve Pubs – had enough yet?

| Sally O'Reilly
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I’ve been meaning to have a wee rant re the whole “Twelve Pubs” thing.

I know many young (and not so young) people who are about to go on this new-and-not-so-noble tradition of mass alcohol poisoning with a view to consuming at least one unit of alcohol per pub (X12) in a few short hours.

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Porn ain’t what it used to be!

| Sally O'Reilly
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I was catching up on my Facebook messages earlier and this post sent to me by a friend really caught my eye. It’s a meme from one of those humour pages on Facebook. Judging by the comments it resonates with most people and they think it’s really funny! (It  is too –  I mean who hasn’t waited years for a plumber?!!)

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Does your relationship need a health-check?

| Sally O'Reilly
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“Is our relationship healthy? Is it normal? Are we OK?”

These questions come up all the time in therapy – actually, if you’re lucky, they come up over coffee with friends! You’ve maybe had those conversations, praying that your friends will say “Ya! – we fight more than you do actually – you have it sown UP compared to us!”.

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Sex Offence Sentencing

Letter to the Times July 2012
| Sally O'Reilly
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The lenience with which sexual predators and rapists are treated by Irish judges always astounds me. The most recent was this week, in July 2012, where a six year sentence was handed down with five and a half years inexplicably suspended by Judge Hogan. There are more judgements to see here. I find this offensive, and I know that this system of ‘justice’ is precisely what has, and what will continue to deter women from reporting crimes against them. Continue reading →

Attitudes to Prostitution: Glossing it Over.

| Sally O'Reilly
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This was my response to an article in The Irish Examiner looking at prostitution and trafficking, abuse and attacks on sex workers. The accompanying photograph was, in my opinion, highly inappropriate. Continue reading →

Our Attitude to Women – have we made any progress?

| Sally O'Reilly
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I wrote this in The Irish Times in response to figures published 15 years ago (!! ) on rape in Ireland.  I work with women and children who have been raped and sexually assaulted –  it is something about which I feel very strongly. And as I read it today, the week of the Tuam babies revelations, International Women’s Day 2017, I find myself wondering if anything has really changed?

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Domestic Violence against women

| Sally O'Reilly
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This was the first commissioned article I wrote for the Farmer’s Journal. It looks at issues around domestic violence against women. It’s old, and  so some of the info is out of date!

In the Journal we often get telephone calls from women who are being abused by their husbands. Many of them have never spoken to anyone about the abuse and do not know what their rights are. Here, Cork psychologist Sally O’Reilly looks at the problem of domestic violence and outlines the options open to women who are being abused:

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