Rape survivor advises sexual assault victims not to wash

A woman who was raped by her husband has urged other women in her situation not to wash themselves after an assault, as vital evidence is lost in the process.

"Angela" (not her real name) spoke at the publication of the 2015 annual report from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (RCC) yesterday, describing herself as a "victor over rape".

“I refuse to be called a victim. It’s been a long road that I have [travelled] but, with the help of the Rape Crisis Centre, I got here,” said the woman who is now in her 40s,

“I never thought that I would be raped. If I was, I thought I would be raped walking down the road from work in the dark or on a winter’s evening . . . But no, I was raped in my home where I should have been safe.

“From the minute I walked into the Garda station and reported the rape, I was made feel at ease. I was told it was by no means my fault, that I had done nothing wrong.

Prosecution

“But looking back I did one thing wrong, and one thing that every victim of rape will want to do, and I say, ‘Don’t do it.’ Do not wash yourself after you have been raped.

“You remove vital evidence that is needed when you’re examined, that will be needed later in a court case, if you do proceed to court. That is what I did wrong, because I wanted to be clean.”

A prosecution of Angela’s husband did not proceed and insufficient physical evidence is understood to have been a factor in this.

Noeline Blackwell, chief executive of the centre, said Angela's experience illustrates how difficult intimate partner rape is to prosecute, because the assaults occur in privacy and "the available evidence can be so slight".

Among the findings in the centre’s report, however, is an increased likelihood of victims reporting rape when the assailant is known to them.

Angela praised the counselling she later received at the centre as “wonderful”.

Occasion

“Every time I came, I made it an occasion, other than just for coming up for my counselling. From the RCC, I would go into town and buy myself a little present. I have all those little presents, because they are gifts to me,” she said.

Minister for Children Katherine Zappone was asked why the Criminal Law Sexual Offences Bill 2015 had yet to be enacted. It was published last year but was not debated this Dáil term. It contains measures to counter internet abuse and child grooming. It was a "priority", she said.

“Both for the Government it is a priority and for myself, as Minister for Children, it is – to ensure we get it through the Houses of the Oireachtas.

“One of the ways of preventing domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is through legislation that can ensure we make the best law to prevent the crimes and to ensure people who are victims of crime have the best support possible going through the courts.”