A brave woman who deserves our support

I SALUTE Mary Shannon, the brave mother of three who felt that turning to the media was her last hope of justice after the man who broke into her home and raped her while her children slept in the next room was given a three-year suspended sentence.

I was disgusted with the sentence. Irish women lack faith in the justice system when it comes to rape prosecutions.

Only one in 10 women report rape to the gardaí and four out of 10 drop out of the legal proceedings along the way. Irish women, in effect, are put on trial to prove they did not encourage their attackers in any way.