Research project to examine trauma of justice system for sexual violence survivors

For survivors, guilty verdicts and appropriate sentencing practices are often a relatively blunt measure of justice. File picture

Debates about delivering justice in sexual offence cases often focus on the outcomes of criminal trials: Achieving a guilty verdict and, ideally an appropriate sentence which reflects the gravity of the harm caused. 

However, for survivors, guilty verdicts and appropriate sentencing practices are often a relatively blunt measure of justice. 

Indeed, it is not hard to imagine how even a case which is deemed a success in these terms may be experienced as somewhat of a hollow victory by a survivor who has been traumatised by inadequate treatment as they journeyed through the criminal justice process.

Consequently, when considering how best to deliver justice for survivors of sexual violence, we must consider not only the traditional focus on results or outcomes (guilty verdicts and appropriate sentences) but also procedural justice (how survivors are treated within the criminal justice process). 

This necessarily requires consultation with survivors to find out about their lived experience of investigations and trials for sexual offences and what they themselves see as priorities for delivering justice in these cases.

This is exactly the focus of a project which is currently under way at the University of Limerick, funded by Research Ireland, in association with CUAN, the Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Agency. 

Lived Realities: Victim-Survivors’ Experiences of Irish Sexual Offence Trials,  seeks to learn about what survivors consider to be the successes or failings of the criminal justice system as it operates in these cases. 

The findings will be published in a report which will not only document the participants’ experiences, but also recommend reforms which are informed by survivors’ views. 

In this project, survivors are ‘experts by experience’ who will act as partners in the research process, building a powerful evidence-base to inform future law and policy development.

The project is informed by an extensive review of comparable international studies with survivors of sexual violence. 

This analysis of available literature has demonstrated that despite significant reform of sexual offence laws and policies worldwide, survivors still experience the criminal justice process as deeply traumatising. 

Some participants in international research go as far as saying that their experiences have replicated the trauma experienced as a result of the sexual violence itself.

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However, while significant challenges remain and the process of supporting a prosecution for a sexual offence will always be a gruelling undertaking for survivors, the international research also indicates that relatively simple measures to support survivors can dramatically improve their experiences. 

For example, having ready access to information about case progress and appropriate preparation for trial can empower survivors to participate meaningfully in the trial process. 

This ideally should incorporate access to free independent legal advice so that survivors can inform themselves about the rules and procedures which apply in trials and understand their rights and entitlements as they journey through the criminal justice system. 

Finally, ensuring that survivors have appropriate support during the trial and, most importantly, that they feel safe in the court environment is essential. 

There must be ready access to separate waiting areas and court accompaniment services and, if appropriate and requested by the survivor, facilities to support them giving evidence via special measures such as television link or giving evidence from behind a screen.

Drawing on the international research, it is thus clear that while achieving convictions and appropriate sentences is of course a critical focus of sexual offences laws and policies, it is far from the whole story. 

We must also consider the needs of survivors and ensure that they experience justice not only in the outcome of trials but in their treatment by the criminal justice system. 

The Lived Realities project offers voice to Irish survivors to tell legislators and policymakers about their experiences and, importantly, what justice means to them and how they feel it can be achieved. 

In this way, the effectiveness or otherwise of the current rules and policies may be measured not only by outcome but by their capacity to ensure that the survivors who bravely participate in sexual offence trials are adequately protected and supported throughout their engagement with the criminal justice process. 

Anything less perpetuates the risk of the system not only failing to deliver justice but of operating as a source of further harm and distress for survivors.

• The Lived Realities project is currently seeking survivors who have had experience of a sexual offence trial since January 1, 2019, to participate in a research interview. 
• For details on participation, see ul.ie/lived-realities or contact the research team via email at [e-mail]

Susan Leahy is a Professor in the School of Law at the University of Limerick