Another day, another case before the Irish courts.

A man had battered his pregnant partner.

The details of the attack, just one more in the long litany of violence against women in this country, left me shuddering.

It’s happening every day. It’s literally non-stop.

The sheer horror of the murder of Daena Walsh in Midleton, left with 25 knife wounds to her face, abdomen, chest and neck, as well as partially amputated arm, in a burning apartment two years ago remains etched on our memories.

What is going on in this country?

One in four women experience domestic abuse in their lifetime.

Gardaí respond to an incident of domestic violence every 16 minutes.

About a third of domestic abuse starts during pregnancy.

In 90% of incidents, children are in the same room or close by while a woman is being beaten.

It’s accepted that domestic violence is extremely prevalent, but the existing statistics, based as they are on reports, are unreliable, because so many women never seek help.

So now the Central Statistics Office, and Cuan, the State agency for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, are working together on a huge new survey on domestic violence, the results of which are expected in........

© Evening Echo