A chara, – The murder of Sarah Everard in London has quite rightly resulted in the vocalising of women in Britain’s pain, anger and fear.
However, I can’t help but feel that the attention this crime has received in the Irish media somewhat disingenous considering a woman died following an attack as she walked down a city centre street in Dublin earlier this year – a crime minimally reported in the media here, let alone eliciting any opinion pieces by newspaper columnists, viral hashtags or large vigils.
Urantsetseg Tserendorj was walking home from her workplace one evening near the IFSC in Dublin city centre. An utterly shocking crime that highlighted how dangerous the streets in the city have become during the lockdown – particularly for essential workers and women (many are both). Relative silence from the media around this incident and the lack of public outrage make it all the more alarming.
But I’m trying to understand why exactly? Both women were victims of violent male aggression on a city street while just trying to go home.
What makes one woman more “mournable” in the eyes of the Irish media than the other? Are the reasons as crass as occupation and skin colour?
Does the reporting media feel more empathy with a white English marketing executive than a cleaner from Mongolia? Is one more “worthy’”of outrage than the other in some more nuanced way?
Or is it that the Irish media wait for a hashtag to become fashionable in Britain or the US before commissioning their respective columnists to engage with an issue? – Is mise le meas,
DOIREANN
NÍ GHRIOGHAIR,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 9.