‘THEY’RE USING ISSUE TO SPREAD RACISM’
A SUPPORT group for victims of domestic violence has said the phrase ‘protecting our women’ is being used as an excuse for racism and scaremongering by anti-refugee protesters.
The Carlow Women’s Refuge Campaign group said there was no evidence to show that asylum seekers represented a threat to women.
It follows several protests in Carlow town over the hosting of asylum seekers, which the group says does not reflect the views of a majority of locals.
‘They are not fighting for women, housing or Ireland. They are using the issue to spread racism,’ said Ger O’Neill, spokeswoman for the group.
The protests have been ongoing for three weeks.
It was initially announced that the former Capuchin Friary on Dublin Street would be used to accommodate 50 men seeking international protection.
However, the Department of Integration subsequently announced that the building would be used to house women and children seeking international protection instead. A total of 14 people moved into the former friary earlier this month under Garda escort.
A protest march will take place today in Carlow over the use of the friary and St Brigid’s maternity hospital, which can take 50 and 100 people respectively.
Ms O’Neill said she was sickened by the ‘lies and misinformation’ put out that the protesters were there to protect women from ‘foreign men coming into Carlow’. ‘We are calling on communities to recognise the hateful and misleading rhetoric that is behind this, and challenge it,’ she said.
In a statement, the group said: ‘The dangerous myths about foreign men hide the fact that the majority of people who experience sexual violence know the perpetrators.’