Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the witnesses for their presentation. Professor O'Connell spoke about judicial discretion on sentencing. I am concerned about the area of upskirting, downblousing and revenge porn, and the degree to which a victim's history may be taken into account when it comes to sentencing. We all know the challenges and difficulties related to rape and sentencing and the often very traumatic process that a victim is subjected to with regard to his or her sexual history. Has Professor O'Connell examined when, for example, an intimate image is posted online with or without consent, whether revenge porn or downblousing, the degree to which a person's Instagram or Facebook page and photographs that the person has posted could be used against an individual? It might be said that the person did not suffer that much harm and is used to putting up photos of that nature. Has Professor O'Connell explored how we deal with this? Do we need to put a provision in the law to protect victims and allow them to feel safe coming forward to report these crimes and follow through on prosecution? The sentencing for rape is not at a sufficient level and the degree to which the victim is further humiliated and shamed through the courts process is a matter which leaves much to be desired. I fear that unless we address this legislatively to deal with that, we will end up in a similar scenario with these crimes, and we will require guidance from the witnesses about that.