Garda 'Jokes' About Taking a Baton to Women and a Child In Galway On Anti-War/Occupation Protest
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news report 
Wednesday April 16, 2003 16:48
by Maggie - Global Women's Strike
womenstrike8m at server101 dot com
Before the Global Women's Strike Community Picket could even commence today outside Mill St Garda Station in Galway, we were approached by a uniformed Garda who gave us the drill about what we could and couldn't do. Then he added 'I hope I won't have to use my baton on you'. This, apparently, was a 'joke' - he was the only one laughing. It was uttered in the presence of a ten year old boy. Does the vicious attack on women, children and men in Iraq embolden the Garda Siochana to make veiled threats to women and children in this country?
Garda 'Jokes' About Taking a Baton to Women and a Child In Galway On Anti-War and Anti-Occupation Protest
Before the Global Women's Strike Community Picket could even commence today outside Mill St Garda Station in Galway, we were approached by a uniformed Garda who gave us the drill about what we could and couldn't do. Then he added 'I hope I won't have to use my baton on you'. This, apparently, was a 'joke' - he was the only one laughing. It was uttered in the presence of a ten year old boy. Does the vicious attack on women, children and men in Iraq embolden the Garda Siochana to make veiled threats to women and children in this country? War anywhere is an attack on all of us and one of its effects is to justify increased sexism, racism and repression everywhere.
What does it tell our children about the legitimacy of using violence to bully people into submission, silence, inaction - and the bigger violence of war - when they hear grown men in uniform making jokes about hitting women and children? As mothers and other carers, we are on the streets protesting war and occupation exactly because we learned from our mothers and we are teaching our children that we can and should refuse to do - that armies and police can also refuse to do - what bullies, thugs and war criminals like Bush, Blair and Bertie command us to do.
The news got out and other women and men rang the Garda Station to make complaints about this or arrived to support the picket. The Global Women's Strike picket made an official complaint and served notice that we will not tolerate veiled threats of violence against us, violence against anti-war protestors elsewhere or the continuing violence inflicted on our sisters and brothers in wars around the world, including Iraq.
Comments (10 of 10)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10That Garda was right to put u straight about a few things. I mean what were you and a load of other women out marching for in the first place. Just why weren't you at home making your husband's dinner?
I hope his strong hand tactics act to shock that little 10-year-old boy into becoming a proper man and help him realise what's what in terms of the sexes.
Problem with you activists, utterly humourless.
i'm all for protesting against the war, but don't take things so seriously!
If you made a 'joke' of that nature towards a Garda, judge or TD you'd likely find yourself on a charge.
So we should complain any rude, unprovoked, unprofessional, threatening remarks from Gardai, judges or TDs.
People don't make enough complaints of this nature in this country.
No force polices itself, drown them in complaints paperwork until at least some of them get manners.
Interesting, clearly some don't know how to respond to or organise in relation to the police or have never put themselves in the way of the police [apart from equality before law comment, thanks]. When you are organising in this way as a bunch of women with children, you are aware that you need to do your action/make your point but also prevent any violence from happening to you and others if possible and this includes warning the police off when they try it on which is the point of making the complaint, writing about it on indymedia etc [Gardai's fave web site, 'private Garda correspondence' they told us when we asked to see the indymedia.ie photocopies they were reading so avidly on our army barracks protest!]. Never, ever accepting as normal any intimidating, violent or threatening behaviour or sexist, racist crap, even so called jokes.
Just go and have a pint for yourself Maggie, like a good girl and don't be causing bother to the police. They work hard under difficult enough circumstances without the like of you giving them lip.
Remember how the Gardai waded into the reclaim the streets protesters last year and how it was only brought to the attention of the media by IMC.
One of the chief protagonists was a "community" Garda.
You can bet the Gardai involved laughed their heads off in the station afterwards until they saw themselves on TV.
I'm with Maggie on this one, this is no laughing matter.
Why not make a complaint to his Superintendant and to the Garda Complaints Tribunal.
Well reported Maggie and dead right to report it too.
Eh Danny, Josef, what's your position on the war then or the right to free assembly and protest?
You obviously found the garda's joke amusing? I am sure there were many 'funny' jew jokes knocking
around in Germany in the 1930s. If you were there then, would you also have sneered at those who didn't
find them amusing?
yes, we did.
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