A Dublin songwriter says she doesn't feel safe in the capital after she was flashed by a man on O'Connell Street just days after arriving home.
Kal Lavelle, who is a friend of Ed Sheeran's and has a writing credit on his hit single “Shivers”, moved back to Ireland during the pandemic.
And she described the streets of the city as like walking through a “horror movie”.
She told Dublin Live: “I moved back to Dublin since the pandemic after leaving to live in London in 2003.
“One of the first things to happen to me was I was walking down O’Connell Street, took a picture of the Liffey and as I went to go home, some random man flashed me.
"I couldn’t believe it, the streets were empty, it was during the pandemic at around 10pm at night.
"I was so angry, I turned and said how dare you but then I was walking down the street, the anger left me and I began to feel afraid, I was thinking what if that was more serious."
Kal described how the process for reporting incidents of a sexual nature was different in the UK.
"I called the guards and was told I couldn’t report that incident over the phone," she claimed.
"I was told to go to my local garda station. In the UK you phone up, report the incident and get an incident number, but that’s not the case here.
“I went into the station, spoke to a garda who told me to go to the garda station in town so that they didn’t have to deal with a paper trail.
“That was one of my first impressions of being back in Dublin, I didn’t feel safe.”
Kai detailed a number of incidents that have happened to her over the years in the capital.
“In Dublin years ago, some man put his hand up my skirt," she remembered.
"And when I asked him what he was doing, he went to punch me.
"Another time I was living on Dorset Street and some guy followed me home.
"I passed my door, went into a Centra hoping he’d go away but he kept following me and I'd had to get a taxi back to the party I was at so I wouldn’t be on my own.
"There’s so many things that have happened to women, but imagine if a man had to put up with this."
Kal continues to remain cautious when out and about at night, especially after pubs and nightclubs reopened last weekend.
“When I was walking on Camden Street over the weekend, it was almost like being in a horror movie,” she added.
“I was watching young girls and guys all around, and I thought about the vulnerability of females, I was thinking what if something happens to these girls tonight. It’s such a nightmare.”
The musician expressed her belief that men need to question and call out the behaviour of other men.
She said: “Women will never be safe until there’s a change in males.
"This whole thing where people say ‘it’s not all men’ - yes, of course it’s not. But there’s a point to be made that if your male friend is sending you pictures of their naked girlfriends, if you’re not calling it out you’re complicit.
"If your friend is sending videos of a girl he had a one night stand with and you don’t call it out, it’s not cool and this is where the change needs to happen. All men need to realise that they need to stand up and question the questionable behaviour of other men.
“Men need to be educated, women have been told you can’t do this, you can’t do that. It’s victim blaming. It’s men who need to change their behaviour, not women. Why do these things happen over and over again? We’re all tired.
“I’m sad about this issue. We shouldn’t have to worry about our drinks, or get taxis home. I don't know if men really connect with the danger we feel every time we leave the house.
"Even when we meet friends, I always tell my female friends to text me when I get home. We shouldn’t have to do that.”
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