Dr. Maeve Eogan:

On there being no conclusive test that confirms or refutes that unwanted sexual contact has occurred, when somebody comes to a sexual assault treatment unit, SATU, we gather a number of pieces of evidence. Firstly would be the patient's disclosure and history of what happened. There may be corroborative evidence such as from CCTV. There may be forensic evidence from the samples that we take and the tests that we do that confirms that sexual intercourse has occurred. However, there is not a specific test that can be done that absolutely confirms that the sexual intercourse was unwanted. Anecdotally, if one asks people, they will say that it is surely very clear from examination whether somebody has been raped. As Ms Blackwell says, the rape does not always involve physical force. Even if it does involve physical force, because the body is designed to have sexual intercourse, that physical force may not actually cause an injury.

That study that looked at pregnant adolescents is really important. These people were absolutely and definitively pregnant. There were 36 of them. Of those 36 women, when they went back and looked at the tests that were done - they had colposcopy because they were adolescents and so there were photographs - they could see if injuries were identified at the time and there were not. There is huge heterogeneity in whether or not there will be an injury at the time of sexual intercourse when rape happens, and therefore there is not a definitive or conclusive test that can either confirm or refute that the sexual intercourse has been unwanted. The Garda investigation takes all the different evidence and the court process will have all the witnesses and the standard of proof there is to prove a matter beyond reasonable doubt. There is no single test we could do if somebody says that she is ten weeks pregnant as a result of rape.

The Deputy is right about the impact of criminalisation. There is much discussion about this. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has absolutely recommended that termination of pregnancy should not be criminal. The Deputy is right that there is a potentially huge amount of additional stress that is placed on people not just because they travel but because there may be a fear that there may be some kind of criminal accusation visited upon them. That is a whole source of additional stress. Ms Blackwell will probably mention, speaking to people after this meeting, that concerns can be raised about that.