Victims of Sexual Violence Bill means victims don’t have to keep looking over their shoulder

RAPE and sexual abuse victims face a severe test of their courage in reporting the crime and - should the Director...

RAPE and sexual abuse victims face a severe test of their courage in reporting the crime and – should the Director of Public Prosecutions feel there is sufficient evidence – in giving their account before a courtroom, judge, jury and defence team whose job it is to prove they are lying.

If a conviction is achieved, we frequently see on our TV screens victims flinging anonymity to the wind so the abuser can be named and shamed. You would think it’s a time for the victim to heal, to reclaim their life and move forward.

That is until the abuser is released – sometimes short of the full jail term – and suddenly there’s every possibility the victim could find themselves face to face with the abuser in the supermarket. Or worse still, being contacted, stalked, or subtly threatened by them.

The purpose of the Private Members Bill currently being considered by the Oireachtas, proposed by Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy, aims to take the fear out of what comes after for victims.

The Victims of Sexual Violence (Civil Protection Orders) Bill 2025 empowers judges to issue civil protection orders against sex offenders — even after they are released from prison — to bar them from approaching, contacting, or living near their victims.

The key element of this is that sanctions can be imposed at the time the abuser is being sentenced, saving the victim serving their own sentence of stress and worry for the entire time the abuser is in jail.

Post-Sentence Protection: Allowing courts to place restraining orders on convicted sex offenders at the time of their conviction.

Perimeter Restrictions: Empowers judges to legally bar offenders from residing within specific distances of their victims’ homes or workplaces.

Safety & Reassurance: Ensures that survivors do not face the constant threat of encountering their attacker in their local community after the perpetrator’s release.

Under current legislation, victims have to prove the released offender is a threat to them and that they have done something that would warrant getting a restraining order from the courts.

That level of evidence if often difficult for the victim to supply particularly if the offender lives in the same locality.

The abuser may always be at the bus-stop where a victim catches the bus for work – but it’s public transport and they lives close to the bus stop. They may always seem to show up in the places where the victim socialises – but it’s a free country and they can go and have a pint in any pub, right?

Moving the Bill for the second reading in the Dáil, Deputy Carthy said: “This is simple legislation. It is a small step to support victims and survivors of sexual violence. It comes directly from the experience of victims and survivors. This is their Bill. It is a testament to their courage, persistence, and strength to deliver change for others.”

He particularly thanked Sonya Stokes and Leona O’Callaghan from Limerick and Shaneda Daly, from Shannon, who worked with him on the Bill.

“This Bill simply provides that at the same time as someone is convicted of a crime of sexual violence, a court can impose an order restraining that person who is convicted of the offence from approaching the victim in the case.

“We know that only a small percentage of those who experience sexual violence get justice, that has to change,” he said. “Many feel that is they rather than their attacker who is on trial.”

The Minister said that “where there is a conviction, that is not the end for victims and survivors. In fact, that is where the long and often difficult journey to rebuild their lives starts. Victims of rape, sexual assault, and childhood sexual abuse have spoken to me about the anxiety, stress, and fear they feel as their assailants come to the end of their sentences. They fear contact from their perpetrators and they fear encountering that perpetrator as they go about their day-to-day lives.

“They have told me about the impact this has on their lives, how they feel they are on a countdown clock to the release of that person. Victims and survivors have said very clearly to me that they want to know the perpetrator in their case will not be able to speak to them, will not be able to approach them, and will not be able to harass them.”