GERALDINE CONNOLLY,
Sir, - We, the undersigned staff members of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, are writing in a personal capacity to express our outrage at both the sentencing and the disturbing comments made by Mr Justice Daniel Herbert in the Central Criminal Court on Friday, March 1st, about a convicted rapist.
We are gravely concerned by Mr Justice Herbert's apparent and flagrant lack of understanding of rape, its devastating impact and long-term effects on victims, shown by comments such as: "No actual injury was inflicted on the victim other than rape"; and "This is not a vicious rape. He did not jump out of the bushes - it was just something that happened between them but he went too far".
This comment demonstrates Mr Justice Herbert's total lack of knowledge of the facts of rape, since the vast majority of rapes are not perpetrated by strangers but by a person known to and often trusted by the victim. The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre statistics for 2000 show that 79 per cent of clients were raped by a person known to them and this did not make the effects of the rape any less serious.
Rape is one of the most devastating of human experiences. The terror, helplessness, humiliation and pain involved result in severe distress that can have an impact on every aspect of the victim's life. Common immediate effects are: shock, panic, terror, recurrent and intrusive flashbacks, sleeplessness and nightmares. While these devastating effects can persist, there are additional long-term effects that are frequently experienced by victims, such as: dramatic mood-swings, self-blame, guilt, loss of trust in relationships, sexual difficulties, impaired concentration and memory and difficulty in coping with normal routines.
Rape as a crime is profoundly under-reported and the outcome of this case will do little to change this statistic. Indeed, it gives rise to great concern for similar cases in the future. Mr Justice Herbert's comments serve to reinforce many of the dangerous myths surrounding rape and sexual violence. They also put in question the effectiveness of the judicial system. The outcome of this case can only further discourage victims from reporting. What hope can there be for a victim when faced with the possibility of a court case presided over by a judge who demonstrates such archaic attitudes?
In law, rape is the second most serious crime against the person after murder. Justice Herbert told the court that there was "only one" aggravating factor in the victim's favour, that the rapist had threatened to kill the victim while raping her. The sentence he passed is not only reprehensible but completely insensitive to what it must have been like for the victim to be raped and placed in fear of her life. It would seem that Mr Justice Herbert would give permission to any man to interpret a kiss as an entitlement to proceed to full sexual intercourse regardless of the other person's response. We believe that until Mr Justice Herbert has taken the opportunity to develop and inform his understanding of the seriousness of rape, the judicial system is ill served by his continuing to preside over cases of rape.
We are determined that the impact of Mr Justice Herbert's actions and the public outrage it has provoked will not be understated. The victim in a rape case is already marginalised in a system weighted against the victim where he/she is merely a witness for the prosecution and is not entitled to separate legal representation. - Yours, etc.,
GERALDINE CONNOLLY,
ANGELA McCARTHY,
LEONI O'DOWD,
DOROTHY COGAN,
RUTH HAIRE,
MARIA BYRNE,
ANNE-MARIE RYAN,
EILIS CULLEN,
ELIZABETH FITZPATRICK,
MARIA WIMS,
MARIA O'LOUGHLIN,
JOAN TANNIAN,
FIODHNA CALLANAN,
ANNE-MARIE HOMAN,
MAIREAD MALLON,
AIDEEN KILGALLEN,
CATHERINE MARTIN,
HARRIET PARSONS,
EMER NELIGAN,
MARIA DOWLING,
JENNY MOONEY,
FREDA SOMMERS,
NAOMI PATTON,
COLETTE SCHUTZ,
ANNIE GALLAGHER,
FRANCES FOLEY,
THERESE GAYNOR,
CATHERINE DALY,
Rape Crisis Centre,
Dublin .