What has changed over forty years?
Nothing has changed in the past 40 years when it comes to how victims of sexual violence are treated in Irish courtrooms.
That’s according to co-founder and CEO of the Sexual Violence Centre Cork, Mary Crilly, who, with International Women’s Day coming this Saturday, feels victim blaming in sexual assault cases is still rampant here on Leeside and beyond. This weekend marks a bitter-sweet milestone for Ms Crilly who co-founded the Sexual Violence Centre Cork on International Women’s Day in 1983. Today she describes the annual celebration as a “marker” reminding her of what women have fought for and what still needs to be done.
“I can honestly say, if I go into court, and I was in five court cases the past couple of months, I'm back 40 years. No difference! Zilch! Nothing!” she told the Cork Independent.
“You're back 40 years. You're back where it's all about getting her on the stand and discrediting her and then you’ve won.”
One important change achieved over the past four decades, however, is that more and more victims of sexual violence now think they will be believed, explained Ms Crilly.
She said: “Victim blaming is always the thing that gets to me.
“It’s like society still doesn’t want to know and wants to excuse the preparators and put the blame on the victims.
“I find if you meet somebody in the centre who knows it wasn’t their fault and they have it in their core being that it wasn’t their fault; then they will fly - they will do very well.
“Others who come in are dealing so much with the shame and the guilt, feeling it was their fault because they drank too much or didn’t see something – it’s horrific,” she added.
Compared to today, Ms Crilly said the ‘80s were a very challenging time to try to find any support for men and women who had been victims of sexual abuse.
She recalled: “40 years ago, I remember it was so lonely, so isolating for the first five or six years trying to get it off the ground. Nobody wanted to know – the clergy didn’t want to know, the guards didn’t want to know, nobody wanted to know.
“Sometimes it does feel like, you know, 42 years and what have we been doing? We’ve been chipping away and some days, you at it head-on and say we haven’t made much of a difference,” said Ms Crilly.
The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘Accelerate Action’. According to data from the World Economic Forum, at current progress rates it will take until 2158 to reach full gender parity.
The goal of this year’s campaign is to speed up that process.
Ms Crilly said she is hopeful that this can be achieved but said there always seems to be a setback.
She said: “I’d hope so, but even when you look at what’s going on with Trump where you think you might have gained some kind of steps and then somebody really right-wing comes into power and you’re back to square one.
“I really believe that the people on the street who have families, who know about abuse, they’re the ones that are going to make changes,” Ms Crilly added.
International Women’s Day falls within Ireland’s Women’s Health Week 2025 which launched on Monday and marks three years since the launch of the first Women’s Health Action Plan in Ireland.
Launching the week, Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, said: “As we launch Women’s Health Week, it is an opportunity to highlight the importance of gendered healthcare across all life stages. I’m struck by a fundamental paradox: the very need for a week of recognition highlights the current inequalities within healthcare for women,” she said.
International Women’s Day events in Cork
A wide variety of events marking International Women’s Day will be taking place in Cork over the coming days.
An exhibition is now open at Sexual Violence Centre Cork featuring the work of artist Diane Curtin exploring sculptural forms and virtual reality. The exhibition closes at 6pm on Saturday.
Tomorrow, Friday, both MTU and UCC will host events. The MTU celebrations begin at 12.30pm at the National Maritime College of Ireland in Ringaskiddy. UCC’s event starts at 2pm on the main campus. More information on Eventbrite.ie.
On Saturday, Prof Maggie O’Neill and Conach Gibson-Feinblum will lead A Feminist Walk of Cork 2, a walk around Cork city examining of the contribution of women and “women led” organisations across the city.
From 12-2pm on Saturday, JVM Consultancy and the Leadership Connect Community will host a Leaders’ Lunch at Sophie’s Rooftop, The Dean Cork, offering a relaxed opportunity to connect with like-minded female leaders.
Also on Saturday, all are welcome to join artist Cecily Brennan for an insightful artist talk set in her exhibition ‘PRESSURE’ at the Glucksman on the grounds of UCC.
More information on these events and others taking place can be found on Eventbrite.ie.