Women's groups are to press for a human rights commission to be set up in Ireland when they meet the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, today.
The meeting is part of the International Day Against Violence Against Women. Women's Aid, Pavee Point, Amnesty International and the National Women's Council will be among the groups represented at the meeting.
A call for a human rights commission has already been made by the Ombudsman, Mr Kevin Murphy.
He noted at a recent conference that Ombudsmen in some other countries have been given the role of human rights commissioner. The rights of refugees was one of the areas in which he believed he could intervene if given the power to do so.
Today's meeting will be preceded by a public protest outside the Dail. The protest will focus on all forms of violence against women both in Ireland and abroad.
Women's Aid says calls to its helpline from women suffering domestic violence have increased this year. In all, 7,500 calls had been received to mid-November, compared with 8,000 for all of last year. The organisation expects to get another 1,000 by the end of the year.
Women's Aid says that internationally there is widespread and pervasive use of violence against women including:
Child prostitution: the UN estimates there are 800,000 girl prostitutes under 16 in Thailand.
Abortion of females: 96 per cent of aborted foetuses in a Bombay hospital were female.
Rape: rape has been a systematic feature of the conflicts in Bosnia, Rwanda and other countries.
Murder: in the last 18 months, 27 women have been murdered in Ireland, most of them in their own homes.
Today's protest at the Dail will be addressed by Ms Mary Van Lisehout, programme director of Oxfam and by Ms Roisin McDermott, director of Women's Aid.
It will mark the start of a 16-day campaign against violence against women which will end on International Human Rights Day, December 10th.