The founder and chief executive of the Sexual Violence Centre in Cork, Mary Crilly, is to receive the Freedom of Cork City on Thursday after providing support to survivors of sexual violence across the city and county for nearly forty years.
The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Colm Kelleher, said he is honoured to bestow the Freedom of the City on the Dublin native “in recognition of her tireless work in the areas of sexual violence, domestic violence, sex trafficking, female genital mutilation and stalking”.
In an interview on Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1, Ms Crilly said she found herself reflecting on all the survivors she had met over the years.
“I think our figures at this stage are up to 10,000 people who have come in so far to use the centre, which is phenomenal.
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“Today, I think, is not just for me it is for them. When I landed in Cork — not really knowing anybody and with two children in 1983 — I never ever thought this would happen.
“Even when it was said to me, I thought ‘you must be joking’. I am blown away by it. It feels so unreal. I am so grateful to the city of Cork for acknowledging that sexual violence happens. It is not something that people like talking about.
“It is not something people like to acknowledge because it is difficult to think that so many people in this country are being raped and abused.”
Ms Crilly said setting up the then Rape Crisis Centre in 1983 involved significant challenges and opposition.
“You are talking about [a time when] horrific things happened, where people didn’t speak out about child abuse or rape wasn’t spoken about. Where we didn’t know the extent of institutional abuse.
“It was very difficult to start. In the premises we used for the first nine months in the quay co-op, we were raided by the Special Branch in the first nine months. Because we were seen as too radical and too different.
“It was a real struggle for us. So you can imagine what it was for the first people who walked in and needed help. They had tremendous courage. There no counselling training at that stage. We were really winging it and trying to do our best. That isn’t the situation now. Everyone is accredited.”
Meanwhile, Ms Crilly says it is “horrific” that people who have been raped are often waiting years for their cases to come before the courts.
“It is like having someone’s life on hold for [up to] five years. What I would say is if we keep the conversation going we can change it. I would ask families to tell their daughters and sons if anything happens to them now or in the past to please tell them. You matter so much to them.”
Her work varies from supporting victims in court, or at the sexual assault treatment unit, to visiting schools and colleges, to working with government, statutory and voluntary agencies to change and influence social policy.