Domestic abuse commissioner needed to tackle femicide in Northern Ireland, charity says

Mary Ward, a 22-year-old mother, who was found dead in her Belfast home last month. She was the fourth woman to be allegedly murdered in six weeks, according to police. Photograph: PSNI/PA

A leading women’s rights charity has called for the establishment of a domestic abuse commissioner in Northern Ireland to tackle one of the highest rates of femicide in Europe.

There is heightened concern that policies tackling domestic violence in Northern Ireland have been held back by decades of sectarian division sucking political resources.