Former Defence Forces member describes rape by senior NCO on first tour

A former member of the Defence Forces has described being raped as a 21-year-old private by a senior NCO (noncommissioned officer) while on her first tour of duty, the “flawed” investigation that followed and the impact on her.

Roslyn O’Callaghan, a member of the Women of Honour campaign, speaking on RTÉ’s Upfront with Katie Hannon on Monday night, described being on her first overseas tour early in her career. One evening she and colleagues attended a drinks party at another base where she had too much to drink.

On the journey back to base, she told the programme, she was “violently ill” and vomiting into her green bag. A senior NCO travelled with them.

“I wouldn’t have had any dealings with him at all. I didn’t even know him personally,” she said. Her friends put her to bed “fully dressed” in one of their rooms.

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“I was very, very dizzy and the room was spinning. They put me on my side and that was it. They left the room then.

“I remember waking up and I remember this man kissing me and on top of me. I can remember my shorts being taken off me and my underwear and I remember this man having sex.” She “kind of knew there was something happening” but couldn’t stop it.

“I remember telling him, ‘Go away. Leave me alone’ But I wasn’t able to fight. I was so out of it. That’s the way I would describe it. It was just, I had an out of body experience ... I just couldn’t stop him.”

She fell back to sleep, her friend returned to the room and she woke again about 5.30am.

“I kind of sat up in the bed and I kind of looked around, and I was naked from [the waist] down ... I put the shorts on me and I put my friend’s bathrobe on and I got up and went straight across to my room ... I was: ‘What do I do? Could I be pregnant? Did that just happen me?’ From that moment on the light went out. My soul left my body. And there was Roslyn no more.”

She reported the alleged rape almost immediately and her senior officers were “very supportive”. She was seen by a doctor and referred to a sexual assault unit, where she was examined.

She gave a statement to the military police. “I was always of the opinion that: ‘The army will look after me. They will believe me. I have done nothing wrong here’. How wrong I was.”

When test results returned she was told the man was not going to be charged with rape. She was “devastated”.

He was however charged with sexual conduct with a subordinate officer and with being in female quarters – which is disallowed overseas. She had to attend the hearing. Before it started she said she had something to say.

She said: “That man raped me”. The president officer said: “That’s not the issue here Private O’Callaghan. Would you like a seat?” she told RTÉ.

She continued: “And that was it. I said, ‘No’. I was stood to attention again. I went out the door and I broke down into a female officer’s arms and I said, ‘I want to go home’ I said, ‘I want to go home. I can’t do this any more’.”

The man was disciplined, fined less than £200 and a “severe reprimand” was put on his record. When she came home she reported the alleged rape to gardaí but because it happened outside the jurisdiction it could not be investigated.

Some time later the man gave her £10,000 for “counselling” without admitting any wrong doing. This was “dirt money” said Ms O’Callaghan.

In 2001, following a suicide attempt, she was referred to a military psychiatrist, now deceased, who diagnosed her with severe post-traumatic stress disorder – about which she was not told. She “suffered” on “in silence” but after a breakdown in 2016 she was referred to a civilian mental health service. She got her records then.

“Why didn’t they tell me? It could have been treated,” she told the programme. “I’d had a second suicide attempt.”

Asked whether the initial investigation was adequate, she said: “I will always say, ‘No’. It was flawed from the start”.

She said she was speaking publicly now because she was “no longer alone”.

“I can now stand up and say: ‘I have people who believe me. I have women who believe me. I have men who believe me ... I am Roslyn O’Callaghan and I am a survivor.”