A TD who tweeted about his horror at seeing a display of “toxic masculinity” on board the Dart which involved “lads” chanting “let’s rape her” at lone women was not witnessing an unusual or isolated incident, according to the Director of a Sexual Violence Centre.
Mary Crilly, who founded the Cork Sexual Violence Centre in 1983, says that the behaviour reported on by Fine Gael TD, Alan Farrell, involves behaviour women deal with on a daily basis.
The Fine Gael TD who represents Fingal in Dublin, spoke out out against the “toxic masculinity” he witnessed on the last evening Dart to Malahide in Co Dublin shortly after 11pm on Wednesday.
In a tweet Mr Farrell said that we have a long way to go to ensure “toxic masculinity” is eradicated from our society.
“Chants of ‘let’s rape her’ were heard amongst lads, after lone women exited the train, before our final destination.”
He described the behaviour of the young men as “depressing”.
“Such young men. Supposedly in touch with what it means to be a 21st-century man.”
On RTE’s Liveline on Thursday, Mr Farrell said that the men were in their early 20s, “very loud and without a mask between them.”
He said he had agonised about whether he had done enough.
“I had my ear phones in. But I hadn’t anything on. I had to double check that I heard what I heard. It happened on two occasions and it really troubled me. There was a couple of them doing it.
“There was a couple of women with them which I found disturbing. It was a horrifying, insidious and threatening event. It is against the law.”
When Mr Farrell got off the train one of the young men said “Hi Alan”, having recognised him. He engaged with them on the matter and there was a “lot of tutting.”
“They didn’t really deal with it. One particular chap did say it was horrible but I don’t think he was in the group. But he was on the train.”
He added that there is at times a reluctance among women to use public transport on the basis of the potential risk present.
“We want everyone to feel safe using public transport. It is a concern of course for people. I have heard of people even being concerned about uses taxes. We have to do more to try and change this culture. This totally unacceptable commentary and treatment of women.
Meanwhile, Mary Crilly, director of the Cork Sexual Violence Centre, says that women have been tweeting and talking about toxic behaviour like this on public transport for years.
“I was often on the half-seven train to Dublin before Covid. I remember seeing young guys harass a young girl and the more she told them to go away the more they did it. They told her she was a c**t and a prude and all that sort of stuff.
“With a situation like that you need more visibility and more monitoring of what is happening. People are afraid to speak out. People [who witness it] are afraid to get involved in case they are beaten up. Which I totally understand.”
Ms Crilly urged public transport users who see lone women being abused in this manner to go and sit next to them.
“There is nothing stopping you from going over and saying ‘I am with you. I am sorry this is going on.’ I think that is important.”
Irish Rail are investigating the incident and have collected CCTV footage. They plan to give the footage to gardai. A Garda investigation into the incident has also been launched.