I Believe Her is a Facebook Page with that provides a place where survivors of sexual violence can share their experiences publicly whilst remaining strictly anonymous.
Due to the intimate nature of events, the fear of not being believed, the guilt and shame that society makes survivors feel, and the trauma of the rape itself, many survivors feel that that they cannot come forward. Approximately 65% of those that present to a Rape Crisis Centre will go on to report their experience to the Gardai or other formal body. Fewer go on to trial and fewer still result in a conviction.
As a result, it’s easy for us as a country to ignore that 1 in 5 adult women will experience sexual violence and 1 in 10 adult men. We don’t hear about it, we don’t see rapists being convicted by the courts. We can pretend it is a rare event.
We want to offer an outlet for survivors to tell their personal stories. We hope that this will raise awareness in the public consciousness and ultimately help to effect change in how we view rape, removing stigma, changing how we report sexual violence in the media and ensuring that complainants are treated compassionately and with adequate representation at trial.
@ibelieveherireland