April 2019, taxi driver Mansoor Uddin who sexually assaulted three women in 2016, was granted bail provided he carries no women as front-seat passengers. A taxi driver who sexually assaulted three of his passengers is allowed to keep his licence and continue to carry female passengers.
September 2018, three students in Cork were raped at the beginning of the college year. Two of these girls dropped out of college to return home. One of these girls was too afraid to tell her own parents what had happened as she had been drinking, thinking it was her fault. The rapists’ lives continued as normal.
March 2018, Rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding, walked away free of charge after a nine week trial on the charges of rape. Their lives continue as before, the disbelieved woman’s life is forever changed. Paddy Jackson even returns to rugby in May 2019.
Girls are told from a young age that we can’t walk alone at night, that we can’t for even a second take our eyes off a drink, that we should wear modest clothing, our dresses can’t be too short, our neck-lines not too low. If we were drinking it was our fault. If our skirt was too short we were asking for it. It was the alcohol, it was the clothes, we’re vengeful and liars trying to get back at someone we don’t like. We are to blame. We are the problem. Too slutty. Too drunk. Not careful enough. It’s never the sexual predator, the rapist, the person who actually committed the crime, it’s never actually their fault. People don’t want to take the victims seriously, because that means their precious rugby player, or star student is actually a criminal, because it might upset their successful life. It’s easier to claim the victim is lying or that she was asking for it than it is to blame a taxi driver with a family or a successful rugby player with adoring fans. But I ask you, why would someone lie about that? Why would someone pretend they were sexually assaulted when the treatment of victims in this country is so vile? Why would someone make up a story only to be called a liar, to be blamed for it because they were drinking, or to have their underwear shown in court? The rates of rapists who walk free is an awful lot higher than the rates of people who lie about sexual assault, and yet it is still the victims who aren’t taken seriously.
The shaming and blaming of victims needs to stop. The punishment of rapists need to be taken more seriously. It’s not acceptable that a taxi driver who sexually assaulted three women is allowed to continue driving provided female passengers sit in the back. Girls sitting in the back of the car won’t prevent that man from sexually assaulting them if that’s what he chooses to do, won’t stop him from sexually assaulting a male passenger who sits in the front seat. Why is the punishment for not having a TV licence or stealing a chocolate bar taken so much more seriously than issues of sexual assault when such a thing can affect someone for the rest of their lives?
It is time the justice system in this country was changed, to actually punish people for the crimes they commit. It is time that victims stopped being blamed. It is time people stop telling victims they should have been more careful about their actions and instead make sure rapists stop raping. The time for making excuses is up. Change needs to happen.
Chloe Boland 