'I want to tear it all down', Natasha O'Brien tells national meeting about gender-based violence
Attack survivor Natasha O'Brien and her mum Anne at one of the nationwide rallies protesting last month after the sentencing of her assailant. In Dublin on Tuesday evening, Natasha O'Brien addressed a meeting on gender-based violence.
That was the rally call that came from a public meeting on gender-based violence in Ireland last night.
The event was organised to discuss a question that has been dominating public and political conversation in recent weeks: How do we get to zero tolerance?
People from the Defence Forces, trade unions, charities, aid services, migrants rights organisations, and some from RTÉ’s recent 'Girls in Green' documentary were in attendance. Some were there to contribute, all were there to listen.
Women of various ages and backgrounds stood up to share their stories of the abuse they suffered and their suffering at the hands of the system.
Some had never shared their stories before. Others have been sharing for decades in an attempt to bring about change.
Over the course of the two-and-a-half-hour meeting, there were tears, there was outrage, and repeated calls for radical systemic change.
The well-attended meeting was chaired by Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.
On the panel were Natasha O’Brien, Yvonne O’Rourke of Women of Honour, Mary Louise Lynch of Survivors Informing Services and Institutions (SISI), and Women’s Aid CEO Sarah Benson.
Many women took the opportunity to thank Natasha O’Brien for speaking out about how she was viciously assaulted by Cathal Crotty, who was discharged from the Defence Forces last week — two years after he beat Ms O’Brien and bragged about it on social media.
Ms O’Brien also highlighted what one woman termed the “injustice system” in Ireland after Crotty was given a suspended sentence, the risk of ruining his army career one of the reasons given by now-retired Judge Tom O’Donnell.
A representative from Saoirse Domestic Violence Services said that, since Ms O’Brien spoke out, its helpline has been inundated with calls from women who cited the Limerick woman’s activism as inspiring them to speak up.
The justice system is not broken as many believe, said Ms O’Brien, it is working exactly the way it was designed — by men and for men.
“I want to tear it all down,” she said, to applause from those in attendance.
She had started a wave, Ms O’Brien acknowledged, but added that this is a wave that cannot break.
It is not just the justice system that needs to be overhauled, the women gathered in Dublin city centre said. It is An Garda Síochána, Tusla, workplaces, and schools.
Sexism and misogyny are deeply embedded in societal structures and this must be addressed from the ground up through education and training, attendees heard.
One woman reminded the room that politicians hold much of the power to enact the change that must happen for Ireland to reach zero tolerance of violence against women.
“When the politicians come to your door in the coming months, ask them to promise that this will be treated as a priority and to promise not to cut any funding to the services that are there to help to support and protect the women who are being abused,” one woman said, addressing the impending general election.
