Artist Sarah Jayne Booth and members of the r. a. g. e. collective present It’s still not pretty – a two-part visual art exhibition in association with Domestic Violence Network Cork. The exhibitions are part of ’16 Days of Action Against Gender Based Violence’, an annual international awareness campaign to combat violence against women.

The Domestic Violence Network Cork is an advocacy group comprising non-governmental, community-led and statutory organisations that share information and expertise to work collaboratively for the betterment of their clients. Acknowledging that 2021 was a challenging year for their service users, Deborah O’Flynn from OSSCork highlighted “the necessity of ‘locking down’ society in order to protect our population from potential Covid-19 infection created, unfortunately, a perfect environment for perpetrators to exert even greater control over their current and former partners”. Despite the ‘Still Here’ Government initiative, incidences of violence and ongoing coercive control increased in 2021. As a result, most agencies have experienced a surge in the demand for their support services even as stay at home measures have eased.

The campaign is an opportunity to raise awareness of the necessity of zero tolerance to domestic violence. This year Cork Domestic Violence Network has invited artist Sarah Jayne Booth, in collaboration with r. a. g. e. feminist collective, to mark the campaign with an exhibition that reflects the experience of domestic violence victims and brings attention to the many barriers they face in securing their safety.

The exhibitions run from 25 November to 10 December 2021 with an installation by Sarah Jayne Booth and soundscape by Dr Honor Tuohy and a window display at Cork City Council Civic Offices available to view anytime from outside the main entrance.