Solidarity rallies will take place around the country tomorrow after a 17-year-old woman’s underwear was considered during a rape trial.
A 27-year-old man was found not guilty of raping the woman in a laneway in Cork after a barrister asked jurors to consider the underwear the teenager was wearing.
The barrister representing the man said that the “thong with a lace front” suggested that the 17-year-old “… was attracted to the defendant and was open to meeting someone and being with someone.”
Socialist, feminist, and women’s rights group ROSA have organised multiple rallies around the country following the verdict.
Writing on Facebook, they called the reference to the underwear a “disgrace” and urged an end to “victim blaming in the courts.”
“These lines of character accusation and victim blaming are unfortunately a common tactic used in cases before the courts relating to sexual violence,” they wrote.
“The judiciary has proven itself time and time again to be utterly damaging to survivors of sexual violence to seek justice.”
The verdict has incited much anger online with many woman taking to social media sites to share the hashtag ‘#ThisIsNotConsent’ along side photos of their own underwear.
Users have also been sharing the ‘#IBelieveHer’ tag in solidarity with the woman.
Protests in Dublin and Cork will begin at 1pm, Wednesday November 14 with a Limerick rally starting at the earlier time of 12.30pm.
A Waterford protest will take place on Friday November 16 at 3.30pm.
