A few days ago, a photo of a pink Dublin doorway went viral online.

It was shared widely across social media as a representation of the hundreds of women experiencing domestic abuse who walk through it each year. The photo of the pink doorway was originally posted by Women's Aid on their Facebook page. They encouraged users to share the image "to help reach a woman who needs a ray of hope." And it did. Since it was uploaded the photo has garnered over 1,000 likes. It's also been shared by over 1,000 other users ensuring that if you were on Facebook any time during the week, you probably saw it. Women's Aid's director Margaret Martin said that they decided to remind everybody of the "light at the end of the tunnel."

“Very often Women’s Aid has to share the most awful stories with our online community because of the nature of violence against women," she said. 

"It could be the latest case to go through the courts, the latest killing of a woman or the level of calls to our 24hr National Helpline.

"By posting an image of our front door, through which hundreds of women using our face to face supports, pass through every year we hoped people would share our hopeful message."

She continued on to say that often, the hardest part of domestic violence can be finding the strength to make the first call.

"...to walk through our purple door, to tell someone what is happening to them. But with our support along the way we help thousands of women and their children escape domestic violence every year.

"Now that is something to be hopeful about.”

This comes after Women's Aid launched their 'Too Into You' campaign to warn Irish women about the signs of dating abuse and controlling relationships. The campaign urges an awareness of emotionally abusive relationships and how to spot coercive control. According to the charity, many women experiencing dating abuse are still being turned away from the courts. Martin says:

"39 percent of young women (aged 18-29) in Ireland have experienced emotional abuse by a boyfriend or partner (...) "A stark reminder of this risk is that one in every two women, aged between 18-25, killed in Ireland since 1996 were murdered by their boyfriends or exes.”