Around 200 female students of the University of Galway have joined a WhatsApp group in order to get them home securely after reports of being followed or harassed in the Newcastle and Headford Road regions.
Gillian O’Meara, a third-year Science student, launched the campaign after receiving daily texts from female University of Galway students reporting being followed, harassed, or groped on their way home in the Newcastle and Headford Rd areas in recent weeks.
“Every day, I receive a new message from a friend about women being followed, harassed, and, in some cases, groped.” It nearly appears to be a trend.
“A friend of mine informed me of an instance when a guy was following females on Headford Road, and when they tried to notify the guards, they didn’t respond.” Someone has to go into the station and report it.
“We would not have known about these incidents if it hadn’t been for the females reporting them to each other.”
“I feel insecure walking home and am always looking over my shoulder.” “I don’t think I’ll be able to stay at college past 4 p.m. because I feel so unsafe and afraid driving home in the dark.”
On November 24, O’Meara posted on Twitter that she was “thinking about starting a group chat for females in Galway living in the Newcaste area walking to and from college.” There are far too many attacks on girls. We shouldn’t have to walk home as a group, but I believe we must.
Though they expected “just a few common friends on Twitter to be interested,” hundreds reached out, prompting O’Meara to consider forming splinter groups to service specific locations.
“When I sent the tweet, I expected only a few individuals to take me up on it. I never imagined we’d have a WhatsApp group with around 250 girls in it. “I got so many messages from individuals offering to help me print posters about the club and go home together to distribute them around campus.”
Walking groups to and from the University of Galway campus is not a new thought. The Students Union assisted in the formation of a walking group for students living in Corrib Village in 1995, which lasted until 1998. In 2010, a walking club met at the library every hour on the hour to stroll around the neighbourhood.
“A recent event at Greenfields Estate in Westside prompted me to form the club; it occurred so close to my house that I became afraid to walk anyplace nearby.”
The event was reported online, with a tweet stating that a student heading home from college at 7 p.m. on November 23 was “grabbed from behind by a guy who leaped out of a bush” and that the Garda had been hunting for the individual in question but had not found him.
“The group has taken off really nicely; many of the ladies will put down things like, “I will be in the library till late if anyone wants to go home after,” or “give each other cautions for things that will happen.”
“It has been so popular that we may need to form splinter groups for specific places, as it was originally intended only for the Newcastle area.” Unfortunately, because the group has become so large, we are also concerned that others in the group chat may be claiming to be girls in order to find out what we are doing and where we are.
When asked if the girls in the group or with her report these incidences to the Garda, O’Meara says that many of the girls in the group believe the occurrences have become somewhat normalised.
“When someone discusses their experiences in the group, we urge them to go to the Garda, but regrettably, some females believe it is no longer a big concern because so many incidences have occurred.” What usually happens is that it is addressed publicly for a month, and then the occurrences stop for a month or two before beginning again. It happens so regularly that some women believe going to the Garda is pointless.
“From my perspective, every tiny report might lead to a major one.”
For students like O’Meara, whose primary interest should be studying or staying on top of course work, this issue means that things like library trips or a normal college life are in question.
“I’m simply a student who wants to go to the library without fear; I shouldn’t have to go to such measures to feel secure, yet here we are.”
“It’s a difficult position to be in to try and counsel individuals in this scenario because the perpetrators are entirely to blame and the onus should be on them to stop what they’re doing,” says Imogen O’Flaherty-Falconer, Student Union Welfare and Equality Officer at the University of Galway. It should not be up to victims and potential victims to take precautions in this case.
“Unfortunately, it is our reality that this must occasionally be the case.” We still have panic alarms accessible at the SU offices, and I would urge individuals not to walk home alone if at all feasible; if that is not possible, call a buddy for a conversation on the way home.
“We have contacted the Garda and informed them of the problem, so perhaps there will be more patrols in the area.”
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