My experiences at the hands of men show how this industry needs to be better

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My thoughts at the moment can't help but be dominated by the murder of a young Irish woman, a teacher who went out for a run on a popular exercise route along the banks of the canal on the outskirts of a large, bustling town on a bright January afternoon and never made it home.

Ashling Murphy, a 23-year-old musician, teacher, daughter, sister, girlfriend, friend and so much more besides, was laid to rest this week in the countryside near where she grew up and where her family lives in County Offaly, an hour away from where I grew up and where I sit now, typing this.

What has the unprovoked and senseless murder of a young Irish woman got to do with the racing and bloodstock industries, you might wonder? The answer is nothing at all and in some ways absolutely everything.

Our first names, although spelt differently, are variations of the one name, an Irish word meaning a beautiful dream or vision, particularly of Ireland. Maybe that's reason enough for this killing to cut so close to the bone, or maybe it's because, like every other woman I know, the thought that this so easily could have been me chills my blood with terrifying regularity.

Ashling Murphy's murder has affected me deeply and the conditions which allow for women to be treated in a callous manner, as mere disposable objects for men's sexual desires or targets of their anger, exist in our industry, as in society, and the time has long passed for it to be called out and changed.

When I first started my career as a sports writer while still a university student about 11 years ago, casual sexism was the order of the day. It was nothing overtly sexual or threatening, but demeaning and derogatory all the same and something that a shy young woman did not feel equipped to challenge.

The worst experiences of sexual harrassment in my professional career have, sadly, occurred in this industry. I have been publicly humiliated by men in my line of work, the object of lewd remarks, disgusting suggestions and unsolicited photos of parts of the male anatomy. I still burn with the remembered humiliation of one particular incident which took place in front of colleagues who were too shocked to do anything other than stare at the ground. I was too mortified, too frightened to do anything myself other than try to shrug it off.

It may be years too late but I am doing something about it now, starting with this column.

Our culture relegates women to a secondary position to men and, as we have seen lately, this sport is not immune to that. How could it be? It reflects the values of the world we live in. Those values have to change and it must be now, beginning with men calling out other men on their words and deeds and not turning a blind eye when a woman is being humiliated or bullied by a man or a deaf ear when off-colour remarks are uttered. Small steps, but it takes a strong man with courage to walk down that path.

Read more articles for members by Aisling Crowe here:

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'He'll enjoy it' – Exultant homecoming to Ballygallon Stud for Hong Kong legend

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