Strong public support for woman in Listowel sexual assault case

20 December 2009 By Martha Kearns

A national helpline for victims of rape has been inundated with calls of support for the woman at the centre of the Listowel sexual assault case.

The chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Ellen O'Malley-Dunlop, said the helpline normally only received calls from victims, but had been overwhelmed with contact from members of the public wanting to show their support for the woman.

She said that the centre had also received a number of emails from members of the public, many of whom were men, expressing solidarity with the 22-year-old victim.

''While it would be normal to get calls from victims whose memories were triggered by a high-profile case, I have never seen it happen before that members of the public would ring the helpline," O'Malley Dunlop told The Sunday Business Post. ''They wanted their abhorrence at what happened at the trial to be registered somewhere."

The sentencing of Danny Foley, 35, last Wednesday came to prominence after a local priest, Fr Seán Sheehy, provided a character reference for Foley, saying he had the height of respect for women. Minutes before the sentence hearing, Sheehy and dozens of others queued to shake hands with Foley, who was then sentenced to five years' imprisonment for sexual assault.

Following a public outcry, and criticism from the Bishop of Kerry, Dr Bill Murphy, Sheehy withdrew from his parish work last Friday.

O'Malley-Dunlop commended the victim in the case for her courage and said that she should have been supported by her community rather than having to endure the further harrowing experience of being re-victimised.

''This is a very sad reflection of an element of our society," said O'Malley-Dunlop. ''It shows that some sections of our society still believe that it is the woman's job to make sure that sexual assault and rape does not happen. Thankfully, judging by the number of callers to the helpline, it is not all of our society, but it is still shocking what happened in the court."

She added that the case showed how difficult it was for women to proceed with a sexual assault or rape case as the odds were ''stacked against them''.

''It was a perfect example of why victims stay silent and why Ireland has the highest fall-out between reporting the crime to getting to court in all of Europe.

We must continue to break the silence," said O'Malley Dunlop.

''The fact that the jury returned an unanimous decision and that there was a very serious sentence given by the judge was good and augurs well for the system. But the type of scenes we saw in that courtroom was totally unacceptable and we hope that it's the last dying kick of an appalling attitude in Irish society."

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre's national 24-hour helpline number is 1800 778888