Group aiming to change laws

violent crime needs to be overhauled and are campaigning for mandatory minimum sentences.

According to figures by Women’s Aid, more than half of females murdered in Ireland are killed by a current or former partner. Partners who are convicted of manslaughter are likely to serve almost three years less in jail than other male perpetrators.

In 2016 the organisation dealt with more than 20,000 reports of domestic abuse of women and children – with 646 threats to kill.

There were 522 reports of assaults with weapons and 352 stalking cases.