Around 1,500 people gathered in Dublin beside City Hall on Dame Street for a powerful march against gender-based violence, led by survivors, feminist activists and community campaigners. The demonstration, organised by ROSA Socialist Feminist Movement to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, later moved to the Department of Justice, with simultaneous protests held in Cork and Limerick.

The protest in Dublin was MCed by activist Laura Fitzgerald. The rally opened with a defiant message against gender-based violence to far-right groups attempting to weaponise women’s safety to promote racism. “We won’t be taking direction from people who want to drag Ireland back to the days of the Magdalene Laundries, abortion bans and Church control,” Fitzgerald told the crowd. “We don’t want macho protectors. The feminists,  of all genders, will take it from here.”

Survivors spoke with searing honesty about systemic failures. Rebecca (Becka) Clarke, whose rape case was not prosecuted by the DPP, said she was “silenced before ever being heard”. She called for transparency and accountability, highlighting thousands of survivors left without justice each year. Hazel Behan, co-founder of Éist, echoed that pain, condemning a system that “offers misogyny, retraumatisation and blame”. Their testimonies drew prolonged applause.

 

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Bairbre Kelly of Therapists Against Harm urged the Minister for Justice to introduce a full ban on the use of counselling notes in trials, stressing that therapy is “a space of safety, not an interrogation”. Mental health activist Blezzing Dada and Catalina Ng Hernández of Sombremesa en Disidencia also addressed the crowd, lending international and intersectional perspectives.

The march paused for a performance of the Chilean feminist anthem The Rapist Is You, before continuing to the Department of Justice, where Ollie Bell served as MC. Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger, who chaired a preceding press conference, emphasised the need for collective action. She criticised the rising influence of misogynistic online spaces and media narratives that demean women and queer people. “Men’s violence happens everywhere,” she said. “On this global day of feminist action, we march for justice for survivors on this island and globally.”

Speakers also highlighted the wider context of gendered violence as a weapon of war, expressing solidarity with women in Palestine, Sudan and elsewhere.

The demonstration delivered a unified, urgent message: survivors deserve justice, safety, and a society free from misogyny, racism and queerphobia. According to organisers, this year’s protest marked one of Ireland’s strongest feminist mobilisations in recent years, signalling growing determination in Dublin and beyond to confront gender-based violence head-on.