’The impact did not end when the court case was over - it never ended’: Limerick survivor on new victim’s rights bill

SONYA STOKES, from Limerick, who along with Shaneda Daly and Leona O’Callaghan formed the Victims Voices support organisation...

SONYA STOKES, from Limerick, who along with Shaneda Daly and Leona O’Callaghan formed the Victims Voices support organisation also addressed the Oireachtas committee last week on the Victims of Sexual Violence (Civil Protection Orders) Bill.

Previously, when her abuser was released from prison and placed in a hotel along with homeless families, war refugees, and large numbers of children, she had to take matters in her own hands to inform the management that he posed a risk to those children and to have him removed from the hotel.

She now wants answers on why he was later placed in a nursing home with elderly, vulnerable people and whether the home was made aware of his record and the need for special protections for other residents.

“My offender has been deceased since the 5th of December 2025. I only found out on the 30th of April 2026. I feel very let down by the state,” Sonya said.

“The impact did not end when the abuse stopped. It did not end when the court case finished. It did not end when the system said it was over. For me — it never ended.

“I lived daily with fear, trauma, and anxiety. The fear of bumping into my abuser was constant … Something I carried everywhere I went.

“There is no real freedom after abuse — not when the person who harmed you can walk freely in the same communities, the same streets, and the same spaces. While perpetrators move on with their lives, survivors do not get that same chance. We carry it for life.

“There is currently no real protection for survivors once a perpetrator is released or living freely. That leaves people like me living in fear, avoiding places, changing how we live our lives, and carrying the responsibility for our own safety. That should not be the case.”