'Like watching a horror movie' Young woman on rape trial that took five years to start

The young woman was on Ireland AM recently to tell her story on what happened the night of the violent attack, the court process and the supports she has received since.

She said, "the attack happened in July....I was on my summer holidays from college going into my final year and just went on a very typical night out....".

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"The arts festival was on down in Galway and I went out with some friends and we ended up in a pub and having great craic.....the night continued on into a house party back in Air BnB....and as the party died down I ended up being assaulted in the house...."

"Then outside in the garden shed.....quite a violent rape and rape with an object took place in a locked garden shed at the back of the house....."

"I waited five years for my trial to start but I always kind of thought that when I get to trial this will all be over.....I was really naive to think that it would just take everything away.....but it is horrifically retraumatizing...I often say that I found the court process more traumatazing than the attack because you're confronted with it...."

"Everything that you've blocked out or blank away from is now in front of you....I watched CCTV walking out of that shed that night....it was like watching a horror movie...."

"You're like 'oh my god don't go in there....don't go into that house'....I watched it back and I would turn to my family and say 'did that look really flirty to you? Did I do something wrong?' so it is extremely retraumatizing".

When Jonathan was sentenced to prison, Bláthnaid said on Ireland AM that she was over the moon and finally felt that the system recognised her and the cost of what had happened on her life.

"Nine years is a really strong sentence in Ireland for a first time offender and for an incident in isolation it's really high....but then he got the final year suspended and then you're told he'll get a third of the sentence reduced automatically so it's six years.....then all of a sudden you think 'well I've waited five years to get here' and then he'll live a normal life to an extent and then he's back in my life".

Bláthnaid said that she has used the Rape Crisis centre supports for years, which can be found in the link below, but with having "strong PTSD" found other forms of support as well through her GP and with a private psychiatrist.

She said that she had to pay €800 for a single appointment with a private psychiatrist and she also goes to CBT therapy.

She said that as well as paying a lot of money for these supports it can also be really difficult accessing them.

"Victims are thrown out and just forgotten about.....and there is very little support there".

If you or anyone you know has been affected by any of the issues mentioned in the article above, you can find support centres in the links below.

For Rape Crisis Ireland click the link here: Rape Crisis Ireland - RCI advocating on behalf of survivors of sexual violence

For a victims of crime helpline in Ireland you can find the link here: Crime Victims Helpline in Ireland