Teenage rape sentencing: Why it did not shock me

According to the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, 35% of women in Ireland have experienced abuse from an intimate partner. And that’s just the ones who felt safe enough to speak up, writes Méabh Cusack

Many of the boys I work with come from homes where anger is the only emotion that gets attention. Some were exposed to porn before they ever had a conversation about respect or boundaries. Others carry trauma they don’t have words for. This doesn’t excuse what they do — but it helps explain how we stop it. File picture

The sentencing of three boys, aged just 13, 15, and 18, for the rape and degradation of a 16-year-old girl at Limerick Racecourse stunned the country. But I wasn’t shocked.

Horrified? Yes. Heartbroken? Absolutely. But shocked? No.