A woman who has seen the man she accused of rape be acquitted after trial has lost all faith in the justice system.

Diane (not her real name) explained to The Impartial Reporter how it had taken a lot for her to go to police at first and then to go through with the trial.

“I just knew all along that I should have gone to the police, you know what I mean?”

She added: “But I just was afraid of the consequences of everything.”

She found the police officers she was dealing with very helpful, and it all eventually led to a trial date, however, as would be the case there were many delays to the trial.

Took its toll

Terrified is how Diane described her emotions in the lead up to the trial which took a toll on her mental health.

“100 per cent it took its toll on my mental health, completely,” she said adding how she sometimes increased her medication to deal with it.

“It took its toll on me and it took its toll on my partner and the kids. You know, not understanding what was going on. I was going away and then I was coming home, and I was upsetting my partner and kids.”

But without the support of her partner, his family and her kids she does not know if she would have had the strength to deal with it all.

Eventually the trial took place.

“I think I had prepared myself, you know, mentally I was feeling a lot stronger. And I kind of had an idea of what I was getting into because before that, I had no idea what court was about.

“But no, it was difficult. It was very detrimental to my mental health. It wasn’t easy at all.”

And Diane has questioned what other women complainants are thinking after seeing the process she had to go through.

From April 2022 to March 2023, the number of sexual offences reported to police was the highest on record at 4,232. An increase of 189 from April 2021 to March 2022.

Statistics

Rape saw an increase from 1,243 to 1,272 while other sexual offences increased from 2,800 to 2,960.

The statistics were released by the PSNI in May of this year.

“It doesn’t make good viewing for anyone to be in my position and feel strong [enough] to come forward, and maybe get knocked back. It’s a shame on the justice system. They should bow their heads in shame.

“It would just make you think was it really worth putting myself, my kids, my partner through all that just to be nowhere really and actually feeling worse than ever to begin with, that’s being honest?” Diane concluded.