Protect Our Women and Children? Or Protect our Prejudice? 

By Caitlin Small 

For many, the anthem of 2025 is “Protect Our Women and Children.” Whether we heard this chant during the Ballymena riots, down to Citywest, or across the water, it struck a chord for many… and for the wrong reasons at that. The routine of these protestors follows as such: a deplorable act is committed against a young girl or woman; they then scan the news article (or most likely Facebook post) to investigate if the race or religion of the perpetrator is mentioned. Upon reading the words “African,” “Muslim,” or “immigrant,” only then is the reader ignited with fury over what has occurred. 

When you take to the streets thereafter with flares and start fires, screaming about how we need to close the borders to protect our society’s most vulnerable, the message tends to get lost when nearly half of your cohort have been previously reported to the police service for committing their own bout of domestic abuse [1]. Those who choose to place a huge focus on our “victims” use it as a façade for racism as well, deciding their validity based upon a hierarchy of skin colour. Back in August, a 6-year-old County Waterford girl was allegedly punched in the face, sexually assaulted, and then told to go back to India [2]. Where were the rioters then? Why did their passion die off when this young girl was assaulted? The truth is, these rioters and protestors do not really care about our women, nor our girls, and in fact, when they say “our,” they really mean white. 

Feminist outcries have been hijacked by abusers themselves, using a socially acceptable means of protest as a smokescreen to let out their racist tendencies. And to those who place their faith in such individuals, think to yourself, would they stand by you if one of their mates perpetrated the same crime they protest? We know the answer is no. 

Life is cyclical 

If we continue to allow individuals to engage with this narrative where victims become political props, then where exactly will the future of women’s safety end up? As of right now, Northern Ireland is seeing a surge in femicide, an issue perhaps brought to light to many by the tragic death of Mary Ward [3]. She was not only the 24th woman to be killed in Northern Ireland since 2020, but also a mother, a member of her community, and a soul. 

With this “us and them” narrative, the far-right wants white people to believe that only such deplorable crimes can be committed by certain individuals whom they deem “less than”, and that violence is a justifiable means to squash such behaviour. 

How on earth can racist violence equate to the safety of women is a question that begs a somewhat reasonable answer that simply does not exist. We know this to be true by looking back on the mid-19th century to the lynch mobs during the Jim Crow era of the USA, or South Africa’s deplorable apartheid system. In these social settings, the safety of women never increased, as it was not even recognised to begin with; marital rape only became a criminalised offence by 1993 in South Africa [4]. Rather, tensions grew, anger became the norm, and in turn, so did violence. 

We’ve all heard the quote, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If we have any sense at all, we must apply this to our current situation. It is glaringly obvious that Northern Ireland is facing an issue with violence against women and girls, as the “most dangerous place in Europe to be a woman” [5]. 

How can we change this? 

We need to uplift charities and organisations that uphold the safety of all victims. While the future may seem bleak, reaching out to collectives that work against violence, such as your local Women’s Aid or SafeLives, can create a difference. There are also prominent root causes that are readily apparent. David Gadd found that whilst most of our youth acknowledge that physical violence in a relationship is unacceptable, many can still point to exceptions, such as cheating, or that controlling behaviour does not amount to abuse and doesn’t act as a bridge to violence [6]. We need to address these issues first and foremost, especially in social groups where domestic violence is more prevalent. 

To be frank, we live in an already patriarchal society; to focus on the male perpetrator, rather than his victim, simply proves that their focus was never on victims to begin with. 

References 

[1] Butterly, Luke. 2025. “Almost Half of People Arrested over NI Race Riots Had Been Reported for Domestic Abuse.” BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. August 7, 2025. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/almost-half-of-people-arrested-over-ni-race-riots-had-been-reported-for-domestic-abuse/a1154568637.html. 

[2] Carroll, Rory. 2025. “‘Why Is This Happening?’: Violent Attacks Terrify Ireland’s Immigrant Community.” The Guardian. The Guardian. August 10, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/10/violent-attacks-ireland-indian-immigrants. 

[3] Kearney, Vincent. 2024. “‘Attitudes Have to Change’ – the Rise of Femicide in NI.” RTE.ie. RTÉ. October 13, 2024. urn:epic:1475137. 

[4] George, Lacey. 2020. “Gender-Based Violence against Women in South Africa.” Ballard Brief. 2020. https://ballardbrief.byu.edu/issue-briefs/gender-based-violence-against-women-in-south-africa. 

[5] National Union of Students. 2025. “Gender Based Violence.” NUS-USI. 2025. https://www.nus-usi.org/gender_based_violence. 

[6] Gadd, David. n.d. “Shaping Strategies to Prevent Domestic Abuse.” The University of Manchester. Accessed November 4, 2025. https://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/impact/showcase/shaping-strategies-to-prevent-domestic-abuse/.