Ms Shirley Scott:

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre is grateful to the Chair and members of the committee for their invitation to discuss the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly regarding domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV, specifically recommendations Nos. 37 to 41. Although domestic, sexual and gender-based violence was not initially included in the Oireachtas resolution, once it was given due consideration the assembly, through its recommendations, conveyed why DSGBV is a gender equality issue.

In the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre we aim to prevent the harm and heal the trauma of all forms of sexual violence. We provide services, including running the national 24-hour helpline, one-to-one therapeutic counselling and support for victim-survivors; accompaniment to those attending sexual assault treatment units, Garda stations and court; and education, training and advice to a wide range of people. In addition, we use our expertise and experience to provide reports, analysis and policy proposals to those tasked with action on behalf of victim-survivors of sexual violence. Through our work in the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre we see first-hand the lifelong consequences of the trauma and harm caused by sexual violence of all kinds. These serious consequences negatively impact health, family, relationships, social well-being, education and work.

In 2020, as in previous years, about 80% of those who contacted the national 24-hour helpline were women and about 90% of those who availed of our therapeutic services were women. While sexual violence is no respecter of gender and while the power imbalance in relationships can impact on all genders, the impact of sexual violence on women as a gender is disproportionate to their representation in the population.

I turn our attention to the assembly’s specific recommendations. In response to recommendation No. 37, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre welcomes the recent announcement by the Minister, Deputy McEntee, of the establishment of a new statutory agency to oversee the implementation of the Government’s approach to tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. To achieve this, the governing legislation of the new agency must have sufficient reach and power to ensure an integrated cross-departmental response will be adopted. We are still some 12 to 18 months away from that agency taking charge. In the years it will take the new domestic, sexual and gender-based violence agency to be built, an ad hocagency should be established to ensure there is no risk of sidelining the work in this sector.

In regard to recommendation No. 38, we agree it is essential to promote awareness through campaigns and education, and to ensure the public is fully informed of the various forms of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. The Istanbul Convention obliges governments to promote and conduct awareness-raising campaigns in conjunction with civil society organisations. Awareness, prevention and education campaigns aimed at eliminating the tolerance of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in society must be both inclusive and accessible by all. The real consent study, commissioned by Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, is the first national study of its kind to examine attitudes to and an understanding of sexual consent in Ireland across all adult age groups. A collaborative campaign now under way in Dublin Rape Crisis Centre is grounded in equality and will lead to a deeper understanding of consent, the impact of gender inequality on sexual violence, and the impact of sexual violence on survivors and their communities.

In regard to recommendation No. 39, the assembly identified five specific areas in which to support justice for victim-survivors. In respect of the review and reform of the courts system, the credibility and reputation of the complainant in sexual offences cases is regularly the main focus of the defence of an accused person. Thus, harmful stereotypes about how a person looked or dressed can influence how an investigation and trial proceeds. This in turn means that victim-survivors of sexual violence may be reluctant to access appropriate remedies in our legal and justice system. It is vital that legal professionals, including the Judiciary, working within sexual offence trials receive appropriate and ongoing training on best practice in the treatment of victim-survivors.

Regarding the development of guidelines and specialist training for judges and lawyers, issues surrounding the disclosure of victim-survivors’ counselling records is now a feature of many sexual offence trials and only sexual offence trials. In the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act, a regime to regulate disclosure of counselling records was introduced for the first time. However, many victim-survivors waive the application of this scheme and permit disclosure of their counselling records without going through the process. This waiver provision has significantly undermined the potential of the new regime for disclosure of counselling records to protect victim-survivors from being questioned about private matters within their counselling notes. The recommendations put forward by the assembly in regard to excluding counselling records in cases is one with which we in the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre are firmly in agreement.

In 2009, research was undertaken on behalf of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, which was based on an analysis of 40 rape cases tried in the Central Criminal Court between 2003 and 2009. The study showed that judges granted defence application to introduce evidence about the sexual history of rape victims pursuant to section 3 of the Criminal Law (Rape) Act 1981 very frequently, despite the highly prejudicial nature of the reasons being offered by the defence. One commonly used defence argument was that the victim-survivor was promiscuous. This sort of argument, unfortunately, strengthens myths about rape and has the potential to undermine the victim-survivor's evidence in court. Such unnecessarily aggressive cross-examination and the introduction of evidence of victim-survivor's sexual history, results in an unduly traumatic court experience for victims. The trial judges who preside over sexual offence trials and the legal professionals who prosecute and defend these cases play a vital role in ensuring fair treatment of victim-survivors while they give their testimony. Thus, it is vital that any judge or legal professional working within these trials have received appropriate training on key concepts such as, but not limited to, consent, rape myths, and unconscious bias.

Regarding the introduction of tougher sentences, one of the things that victim-survivors want to know when they engage in the criminal justice process is what the outcome is likely to be. They will of course know that the defendant may be acquitted or convicted. However, in the absence of sentencing guidelines and a sentencing database, it is hard for them to know the consequences of a conviction. Report 1 of the sentencing guidelines and information committee of the Judicial Council of Ireland states that sentencing data in Ireland still has profound limitations. The sentencing database known as the Irish Sentencing Information System, ISIS, needs to be reinstated and resourced.

No one size fits all in regard to specialised confidential healthcare and other support services, but our experience as a rape crisis centre of more than 40 years highlights that decent, proper services must be conceived in a victim-survivor-centred way so that those delivering the services are trained and understand the emotional, traumatic impact of sexual assault and harassment, preferably in specialist services where they do not have to keep reporting and reliving the sexual assault again and again. This is particularly true for children and especially vulnerable people. In addition, services must be available in a timely way, be that healthcare or counselling within a short timeframe or getting a case to court within a reasonable timeframe.

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, along with member organisation of the Victims' Rights Alliance, VRA, has long been lobbying for the establishment of a victim-survivors' commissioner who is dedicated to protecting and upholding the rights of victims. The appointment of a dedicated commissioner for victim-survivors of crime would ensure their voices and experiences were at the forefront of decision-making, in addition to proactively shaping a balanced and fair criminal justice system.

In response to recommendation 40, we must also consider the need for shelters and accommodation for victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation. Trafficked women recovering from sexual exploitation need safe and appropriate shelter and accommodation that recognises and treats them as victims of human trafficking and victims of violence against women.

Through its comprehensive recommendations, the assembly has highlighted how much remains to be done, but it also offers a clear pathway for achieving a much more equitable society, including one that is free from gender-based violence. The words used by the assembly in its open letter to the Oireachtas are striking and very clear:

There is no place in our society for gender-based violence. We support the aspiration of the Istanbul Convention to create a Europe free from violence against women and all forms of domestic violence. We want our Government to work actively towards this goal.