Taoiseach to facilitate protection scheme for homeless victims of rape

Sun, 15 Nov, 2020 - 16:25

Donal O’Keeffe

The Taoiseach is to facilitate a pilot scheme which will offer help and protection to homeless victims of rape and sexual violence in Cork.

Micheál Martin promised his support for the scheme during a meeting in Cork Penny Dinners with its co-ordinator Caitriona Twomey and with Mary Crilly, founder Cork's Sexual Violence Centre.

Also attending, via Zoom, was Lavinia Kerwick, a rape survivor and campaigner who earlier this year in the Irish Examiner called on the Taoiseach to meet with Ms Twomey and Ms Crilly to address a spate of sexual attacks against homeless people on the streets of Cork.

The Taoiseach described the meeting as “very positive”.

He promised to work with the campaigners to establish the scheme offering refuge to homeless victims of sexual assault, with follow-on medical and counselling services, and assistance to access long-term, sustainable accommodation.

“I want to thank Caitriona and Mary and Lavinia for identifying a clear need in terms of homeless people being raped and assaulted on our streets, with no effective follow-on services available to them,” Mr Martin said.

The Taoiseach said the logistics would still have to be ironed out, such as a location in Cork, but he felt there would be a role for the Homeless Forum in addressing this issue.

“I think this is important, and it’s something we should do. It will need, obviously, local authorities, HSE, and homeless services in general, to become involved in helping to provide a solution.

“It needs a bespoke solution to deal with this and I’m going to reflect on that and see how we can move it forward.”

Mr Martin expressed the hope that this scheme might be piloted in Cork, with other areas to follow suit. He said: “The first sexual assault unit started in Cork when I was Minister for Health. That worked well, and it was very quickly replicated across the country.”

3 women on a mission Caitríona Twomey ⁦@PennyDinnersCor⁩ , ⁦@kerwick_lavinia⁩ ⁦@MaryCrilly7⁩ meet with An Taoiseach ⁦@MichealMartinTD⁩ ..... pic.twitter.com/UbKBPyoYYi
— Sexual Violence Centre Cork (@SVCCork) November 14, 2020

In 1992, Lavinia Kerwick became the first Irish rape survivor to waive their right to anonymity, and her campaigning led to the introduction of victim impact statements, and the granting to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) the power to appeal the leniency of sentences.

Ms Kerwick said the Taoiseach seemed very interested in supporting the proposal.

“He listened carefully to everything that was said, and I hope he will support Caitriona and Mary, and that he will offer homeless rape survivors the support, dignity, and respect that is their right as human beings.”

Mary Crilly, who founded the Sexual Violence Centre — formerly the Cork Rape Crisis Centre — in 1983, said that the Taoiseach had acknowledged that homeless women had been ignored and forgotten in the debate about homelessness.

“I have yet to meet a homeless woman who hasn’t been raped. They tend to say ‘I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been raped’,” she said.

“What we are hoping to see as a result of this meeting is a refuge for women and men who have been homeless and have been raped or sexually assaulted.” Caitriona Twomey described the meeting as very positive, saying the Taoiseach had liked their proposal and had committed to working on it with them.

“We believe that this meeting with Micheál will see a positive outcome.

"We need to get the message out that what we want is to provide to homeless survivors of rape and sexual assault a safe place they can call home until they can eventually get their home for life.”