FEMINISTS working to highlight and stop men's violence against women had made an incalculable contribution to the freedom and autonomy of women in Ireland, according to Ms Ailbhe Smyth, director of the Women's Education Research and Resource Centre at UCD.
She was addressing the women students' conference at the University of Limerick yesterday on violence against women in Ireland.
Ms Smyth said there was now a marked increase in the level of violence against women in the home, which had become a major issue. In 1994, she said, Women's Aid had received over 6,000 calls to its National Helpline Service.
There were 10 refuge centres in the State catering for a maximum of 213 people and no community outreach services.
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Ms Smyth said, had estimated that fewer than 30 per cent of adult rapes or sexual assaults were reported to gardai.