There are triggering moments like the Karen Buckley case. It’s always going to be there I suppose.

Tom Meagher, husband of the late Jill Meagher, who was murdered in Melbourne in September 2012, said the family of Karen Buckley have a long road ahead.

Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Meagher said, “I was utterly heartbroken. I followed the case from the start.

I remember waking up the morning that I found out what happened and it was just so heartbreaking. I cried for hours.

“I just send them my absolute sincere love and support. It’s a very similar case to Jill in a way but it’s also very different in how individuals deal with this.

Source: Cliodhna Russell via TheJournal.ie

“The only thing I can say to them is take love where you can find it and take comfort in your family and friends. They have a very hard road ahead as I know.”

‘I paid for her, I can do what I want with her.’

Meagher was speaking at the launch of a campaign ‘Prostitution – We Don’t Buy it’, organised by The Reach Project. Discussing the men who purchase sex and the lies they tell themselves, Meagher said:

Two years ago I read this document from an interview with a man who had repeatedly and very violently raped a number of prostitutes in Australia. His answer to the question, ‘Why did you do this?’ was ‘I paid for her, I can do what I want with her.’

Ten years later that man was out on parole and raped and murdered my wife.

Meagher told TheJournal.ie that he still thinks about Adrian Bayley.

“When I think about him I’m very angry but I don’t think about him as much. It’s not something that’s as prevalent in my mind as it was.

When I think about him my blood does boil but it’s not ever-present.

Jill Meagher

A Red C poll released today revealed that almost one in ten Irish men have paid for sex.

Meagher said, “The transfer of money does not turn a no into a yes.” He read out posts on a website men who rape women they’ve paid for go to:

“She didn’t even speak English. Not what I was looking for and I’m the one paying for this.

“I’m paying her €2.50 a minute and I can’t even fuck her in the position I want, this is not fair.”

Meagher added that, “Many of us believe that prostitution prevents rape” he said this was illustrated in a London study in which one man said:

“Sometimes you might rape someone but you can go get a prostitute instead.”

He said this feeds into the lie that ‘male sexuality is this uncontrolled force of nature- so therefore needs a constant supply of women to satisfy that man’.

That also feeds into the lie that men can’t help themselves. It’s a handy excuse for rapists and violent men.

“It’s a lie that dis-empowers both men and women. We need to end the lie that this is about sexual freedom or liberation. It’s not liberation, it’s exploitation.”

Read: Here’s how many men in Ireland say they have paid for sex>

Read: Man who raped and killed Jill Meagher convicted of three more rapes>