Fiona Neary, RCNI Executive Director today said: “We very much welcome that the judiciary in Ireland have ongoing judicial education which includes both legal and personal issues around rape and sexual assault. The information today from the Courts Service is reassuring for any victim of sexual violence considering whether or not to report.”

“Uneven sentencing or  judgemental statements about a victim of rape can have devastating impacts not only on one victim, but all victims. When deciding whether or not to report, victims want reassurance that the legal system understands the impact of rape and other sexual violence crimes.”

“The courts service information includes that in the past decade there have been many examples of training in the area of sexual violence in on-going judicial training. It is well recognised at EU level that knowledge of the effects of sexual violence and its impact on victims is vital information for the Judiciary. The EU Directive on the rights of victims of crime includes, at Article 25, an instruction that each country request that those responsible for the training of judges…make available both general and specific training to increase the awareness of judges….of the needs of victims. Given the specific characteristics of sexual violence, this training has to include specialist input, to have any real positive effect for survivors.”