A woman broke down in tears as she recounted being gang raped by soldiers when she was 19 years old, during a tribunal hearing in Ireland. The woman, identified only as Ms Y, told the Defence Forces Tribunal on Wednesday that she fell pregnant as a result of the assault and subsequently underwent a termination.
At the time of the attack, Ms Y was herself a soldier. She stated that she did not know the identities of her attackers and possessed no evidence of the crime. 'What happened to me should not have happened,' she said, her voice breaking.
Background of the Case
Ms Y served in the Reserve Defence Forces for approximately two and a half years starting in 1995. She later joined the Permanent Defence Forces in the 1990s and remained in the full-time branch of Ireland's Armed Forces until the late 2010s, according to the Belfast Telegraph.
The Tribunal of Inquiry was established by the Irish government in July 2023 to examine how abuse complaints are handled within the Defence Forces, which include the Army, Air Corps, Naval Service, and Reserve. The inquiry was prompted by concerns raised in a 2021 RTÉ Radio 1 documentary that alleged widespread sexism, bullying, and inadequate investigation of sexual assault and rape cases.
Testimony and Threats
According to transcripts released this week, Ms Y testified that one of her alleged rapists warned her after the attack to keep quiet, threatening that she would be expelled from the army if she spoke out. Believing the threat, Ms Y said she feared losing her job and did not report the gang rape.
She expressed a desire for an independent body to be established within the Defence Forces to handle complaints, ensuring victims feel safe to come forward.
Additional Evidence
Justice Ann Power later heard from another witness, referred to as Mr R, who joined the Defence Forces in 1998. He testified that he woke up twice while sleeping in barracks to find someone touching his genitals and anal region. When he reported the incidents to a sergeant, he was allegedly told not to raise the issue again or he would lose his job.
The oral hearings are part of the current phase of the tribunal. An investigation report with recommendations is expected to be presented to Ireland's Taoiseach within three years of the inquiry's establishment.
