Headline cases such as Sarah Everard, Sara Sharif and Gisele Pelicot uncover an escalating level of violence carried out by perpetrators over time. At our meeting in March, two speakers, Sarah McGlinchey and Lisa Begley, will explain the process of escalating violence and how prevalent violence towards women and girls is in the Ards and North Down Area, and we will discuss what we, as humanists, can do about it.

Sarah McGlinchey is the producer of FEMICIDE, an award-winning eight-part Radio
Ulster ‘Assume Nothing’ podcast series. The series focuses on academic research that
uncovers the ‘homicide timeline’, a pattern of escalating violence identified in domestic
homicides. Using case study examples of women murdered in Northern Ireland,
‘Femicide’ investigates why women continue to be murdered and what could be done to
prevent it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0hj410j

Lisa Begley is Services Manager of North Down and Ards Women’s Aid. Women’s Aid is
the lead voluntary organisation in Northern Ireland addressing domestic abuse and
providing support services for women and children. It is made up of eight local Women’s
Aid groups and Women’s Federation NI, the regional body with a role for training, policy
and lobbying. The ultimate aim of Women’s Aid is to eliminate domestic abuse by
challenging attitudes and beliefs that perpetuate domestic abuse and promoting healthy
and non-abusive relationships.

https://www.ndawomensaid.org/about-us/