Do men need a license to be allowed socialise (MOD NOTE IN OP)

anewme, I inadvertently replied to you here: anyway, impossible on this new site to delete..

Exactly. Not everyone thinks the worst. There is context, situations, circumstances, people’s views and opinions..

Simple: nobody is condoning threatening or intimidating behaviours.

aren’t there already laws to deal with harassment?

are we suggesting we need tweaking g these laws?

where say, for example: woman walking down street dressed nice and looking nice, and man whistles in her direction in noticing this or acknowledging this or complimenting this. Woman then goes to cops to report it?

It's a shame that Ashling's violent death is being used to push an agenda. This should not be her legacy, she should be remembered for the person she was, not her death. Her family should have time to deal with the shock, horror and grief, not have their loved one discussed relentlessly in the media.

I want to say though, I'm a woman and I'm not afraid. I go about my daily life without fear, even in a cafe (imagine!). I accept I could be unlucky but none of us should live in fear of a statistically unlikely event.

There was a time, a very recent one at that, where women were second class citizens, became basically the property of their husband if married and shamed as a spinster if they weren't. Marital rape wasn't recognised, we didn't have equal opportunities in education and employment etc. The original feminist movement backlashed against that and allowed us to be independent and equal.

Now, however, the aim seems to be to subjugate men and educate boys that they need to suppress their, apparently, inherent violence, to equate boorish behaviour to menace and demand they all become knights in shining armour, swooping in to defend the honour of any woman.

When we learn more about the murderer it's highly unlikely that we'll hear he was a well-adjusted individual, bar a penchant for wolf whistling and telling women to smile, prior to the day he took Ashling's life.

Demand change? Yes, but demand it where it's needed - early childhood intervention, effective mental health services, policing and sentencing. Let's not tar all our fathers, brothers etc. with the same brush. The majority of men and women are decent people, it would be a shame to compare all of us to the notable exceptions.

Totally agree with context, situations etc but making that judgement call is a very fine line unless you know the person really well.

Are there set laws for street harassment, whistling, commenting etc already in place?

I think your final paragraph that if a women is walking down the street looking well and a man whistles at her, he's out of order. 100%. He knows she's not able to physically fight back, but still pushes ahead with a behaviour that more than likely would not be welcome. While calling the cops might be a waste of valuable resources, how else do you propose could be done to ensure he desists from doing that? Or do you think its ok for him to do that because he meant no malice.

he knows she’s physically not able to fight back? He’s hardly thinking this with what he has done.

I think you’re painting this too negatively and with sinister tones that aren’t there.

I would absolutely not be for having gardai investigate random innocuous/innocent comments (albeit childish/immature) here.

I think we have laws in place as it is without needing this tweaking.

So you think it should be a crime?

Not defending it. Just do not agree it should be a crime.

Not really..

what would be burden of proof? So much to consider..

but look: if my son did it to a female, I’d tell him not to do it.

but I wouldn’t be for criminalising it either.

Unenforceable really and a waste of Garda resources. At pub closing time every night you would just have thousands of offences by men and women. This aspect should be dealt with through education and peer pressure then to enforce it. Focus on dealing with those who have a proven track record of violence. Unfortunately that will never happen though.

It does, the man would likely have bottled it and not came over trying to open the car door if it was a man in the car. Unless he judged the man was small or elderly and he was not worried about a more even physical confrontation. Women are easier targets for bullies like this.

I as a man experience plenty of road rage beeping and gesturing but nobody has ever followed me or tried to confront me face to face.

What?

who said anyone couldn’t mention what gender/sex they were?

you were called out on bringing gender into a discussion, by implying that my disagreeing with you was because I am male and you, female. Called out that this is desperate, and poor form, and yet here you are still pushing this…