Sexual Offences

Gisèle Pelicot's ex-husband and 50 other men have been convicted of rape and other offences in the French mass trial which made global headlines. Dominique Pelicot, 72, who drugged and raped his then wife, also 72, and arranged for other men to come to their home to rape her while she was dru

The High Court has awarded costs against MMA fighter Conor McGregor in a civil case where he was found by a jury to have raped Nikita Hand in 2018.

One in five people living in Ireland believe that women "often make up or exaggerate claims of abuse or rape", according to new EU-wide research. The Eurobarometer survey was conducted with the aim of gaining a better understanding of EU citizens’ attitudes towards violence, and relativisation

A pilot scheme providing free, independent legal advice and advocacy to adult complainants in serious sexual offence cases in Northern Ireland has been extended for two further years. The sexual offences legal advisers (SOLA) pilot scheme will now run until March 2027.

A new approach to managing sexual offenders, with a particularly strong focus on rehabilitation, has been adopted by Irish prisons. The new model of intervention, called 'New Chapters', was developed by the Irish Prison Service following a review of the Building Better Lives (BBL) programme conducte

The Supreme Court has determined that a dispute on disclosure in a historical sexual abuse case was not a matter for judicial review and did not in any event warrant the prohibition of the trial. Delivering judgment for the Supreme Court, Mr Justice Peter Charleton highlighted: “The responsibi

Legislation aimed at protecting victims of sexual offences from being "retraumatised" in the course of a criminal trial has come into effect. Justice minister Helen McEntee has now commenced parts 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Act 2024.

Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has welcomed a "trend of substantial sentences being handed down for sexual crimes" following the sentencing of rapist Raymond Shorten. Shorten will serve 30 years behind bars following the imposition yesterday of a 17-year sentence for raping two young women on two dates i

Wide-ranging legislation on sexual offences and human trafficking has been approved by the Oireachtas. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023 includes measures on sexual offence trials providing for victim and suspect anonymity, a right to legal representation where victi

Legislation granting automatic anonymity to suspects of sexual offences has been struck down by Northern Ireland's High Court. Under the Justice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, which came into force last September, suspects of sexual offences cannot be named un

Most complaints of sexual assault brought to gardaí involve an alleged perpetrator known to the complainant, new figures reveal. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) yesterday published a statistical bulletin on victims and suspected offenders in 2022, showing that in 71 per cent of sexual off

The Irish public is gaining a better understanding of sexual consent but further engagement is needed with certain groups, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) has said. The charity today launched its third tranche of research focused on public understanding of sexual consent, as part of the organisatio

A man who sent unsolicited photos of his erect penis to a 15-year-old girl and a woman has become the first person in England and Wales to be convicted and jailed for cyber-flashing. Cyber-flashing became a specific criminal offence in England and Wales on 31 January 2024. Similar legislation took e

The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) has welcomed a Pakistani legal reform that strengthens women's rights in marriage and criminalises unconsented sexual acts. The change in law has led to the first conviction for marital rape in the province of Sindh, where a K

A pilot scheme providing free independent legal advice to complainants in serious sexual offence cases in Northern Ireland has been extended for a further year until March 2025. The Department of Justice launched the pilot scheme in April 2021, less than a year before the collapse of the Northern Ir