Dublin University Gender Equality Society (DUGES) will join protests this afternoon following controversial comments made about a woman’s underwear during a rape trial.
The society will join a protest at the spire on O’Connell St this afternoon, organised by socialist feminist group Reproductive Rights Against Oppression Sexism and Austerity (ROSA), after the jury in a recent rape trial were asked to consider the fact that the 17-year-old complainant was wearing a “thong with a lace front” on the night of the alleged incident.
In an email statement to The University Times, DUGES Chair Clara Tatlow-Devally said the society was “rallying for the woman who was disgraced and debased in the Irish courts, whose underwear was used as “evidence” for her consent”.
Tatlow-Devally said the trial was “indicative of rape culture across Ireland, a culture that leads people to ask questions like “what were you wearing” or “had you a too much to drink?” before they ask how to hold a perpetrator accountable”.
In recent days, sexual violence and rape victim support networks have expressed concern at the comments, which were made during the closing arguments in a Cork Circuit Criminal Court case. Senior counsel for the defence, Elizabeth O’Connell, said: “You have to look at the way she was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front.”
Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger held up a black thong in the Dáil yesterday, calling for “rape myths” to be dispelled in court cases and demanding more training for members of the legal profession.
In March, following the verdict of the Belfast rape trial, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) led a delegation to show solidarity and highlight the failings of the criminal justice system for victims of rape.
The rally came after four men – including Ulster rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding – were found not guilty in a jury trial. Jackson and Olding were acquitted of rape and oral rape respectively.
