"Cliona Saidlear, the executive director of Rape Crisis Ireland, said it was shocking that anybody would re-enact incidents of sexual violence against women as entertainment. This is an appalling failure of judgment that reflects the persistent minimisation of sexual violence and a misogynistic culture that facilitates it."
"Parading acts of sexual violence through our main streets and turning rape and assault into a joke trivialises and stigmatises the experiences of victims and survivors. Many victims of sexual violence do not report it because they fear they will not be believed or taken seriously."
"The float is further evidence of a lack of awareness of the impact of sexual violence and of the harm and trauma it causes. The display sent a harmful message to wider society that sexual violence was something to mock."
A St Patrick's Day float in western Ireland depicted a sexual assault scene, featuring people pursuing a screaming female character pinned to a mattress, alongside signs referencing Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew. The display appeared in parades across County Galway and County Mayo. Rape Crisis Ireland condemned it as public grooming that normalizes sexual violence, while the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre warned it sends harmful messages trivializing assault. Parade organizers apologized, stating they were unaware of the float's content beforehand. Experts emphasized the display reinforces victim stigma and discourages reporting of sexual violence by suggesting assault is entertainment rather than serious trauma.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]