Cross-community women's network calls on Stormont to recognise male violence against women and children as 'emergency'

A cross-community volunteer network of women living across the North has called on Stormont to "recognise male violence against women and children is a national emergency, and implement an urgent, properly funded, dedicated strategy to prevent and respond to male violence, especially within family settings".

The NI Women's Rights Network was responding to the deaths of Vanessa Whyte and her children Sarah and James in a shooting incident in Maguiresbridge in County Fermanagh on Wednesday. 

Between January 2020 and July 2025 in the North, 28 women have been violently killed, all but one by a man, with 42 confirmed femicides since 2017.

In Derry alone three women have been murdered in that time. Ardmore showjumper, Katie Simpson (21) was murdered in August 2020;  Sophie Watson (57) from Magherafelt was murdered in August 2024; and Montserrat Martorell (65) was murdered in the city in September 2024.

Describing the tragedy in Maguiresbridge as "horrific", a NI Women's Rights Network spokesperson said: "We are tired of watching the same patterns unfold while those with power fail to act."

"We are devastated and enraged following the deaths of a woman and two children in Maguiresbridge, County Fermanagh," added the spokesperson.

"All three died from gunshot wounds in what police have described as a domestic incident. All were members of the same household.

"We grieve for their lives and for the community now shattered by this horrific violence. But our grief is not quiet. We are also furious because this keeps happening, and those in power continue to look away.

"Just weeks ago, Sarah Montgomery — a 27-year-old pregnant woman and mother of two — was murdered in Donaghadee. She was the 27th woman murdered in Northern Ireland since 2020. And now, we are also mourning the deaths of another woman and two children.

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"This is not rare. It is not unthinkable. It is happening again and again — behind closed doors, in homes, in quiet communities and it is being met with political silence," said the spokesperson.

Women's Rights Network NI called "once again on Stormont to: recognise male violence against women and children as a national emergency; and implement an urgent, properly funded, dedicated strategy to prevent and respond to male violence, especially within family settings".

"It also needs to invest immediately in specialist services that support women, children, and survivors of domestic abuse; and deliver cross-departmental action that addresses prevention, early intervention, and long-term cultural change," said the spokesperson. 

"We are grieving. We are angry. And we are tired of watching the same patterns unfold while those with power fail to act.

"If three people had been shot dead by a stranger in a public place, the response would be immediate and unequivocal. But because this happened in a home, it risks being quietly forgotten, just another footnote in Northern Ireland’s long, shameful record of ignoring male violence. This must end. We demand action, now."