Can I be forced to prosecute/name my sexual abusers?

prioriincantem wrote: »

I had an appointment in a psychiatric ward today to discuss my mental health, and something that I struggle with a lot is coping with my history of sexual assaults.

I had never told anyone out loud before about it, and I broke down and told the Professor about it today, and she said that legally she has to report the incidents because any information I give to her, if it is felt that either myself or anyone else could be in danger, she's legally obligated to pass the information over to authorities.

I didn't tell her the names, she said that I should get a phone call in the next few weeks asking me about it.

I don't know what to do. One of the men is in jail currently for the rape of a 13 year old. While it breaks my heart to know that I wasn't the last person that he hurt, I'm also terrified to speak up, because i know that the girl that rightfully went to the authorities has gotten hopped on a load because of it and got bet really badly with a knuckle duster.

i'm already constantly paranoid and afraid that I might see them as I live locally to them both. I don't want to endanger myself.

What can I do? If I refuse to name them or decline to talk about it will they call me again?

I'm very sorry to hear about your terrible past. You are a strong , brave person to have moved on from it.
I can't offer much advice other than maybe contact a rape crisis centre and they can perhaps help you deal with whatever path you choose.
If you do decide to prosecute they will support you and I'm sure they will support your decision not to.,
I hope it all works out for you and I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Yes you can refuse to say anything. But remember that in Ireland YOU don't prosecute someone, the DPP does so on behalf of the public. Basically what happens is the cops put together a file with interviews etc and give it to the DPP who decide whether to prosecute or not.

Even if the victim says they don't want a prosecution and refuses to cooperate a prosecution can still happen - but this really depends on the facts of the case.

In your case if you refuse to be interviewed or say anything in the interview or name names then it is pretty much impossible for the DPP to prosecute someone as they don't know who to look at.

I was beaten up once and decided it would be more trouble than it was worth to cooperate with the gardai (they were serious thugs) even though I knew who did it, names, addresses etc. (The attack was witnessed and reported to the Gardai). Anyway they talked to me and I told them I didn't want to take it any further and just forget about it, they pressed me a bit to spill the beans but I just told them I had no idea who did it and just didn't say anything else. Nothing ever came from it because I didn't cooperate.

However I would encourage you to cooperate with the Gardaí and explain your fears considering the crime you were a victim of was far more serious - however if you don't want to that is perfectly ok.

While your counselor may be following the letter of the law I think he/she handled this very badly - but it is wrong to be too critical. You have taken a very important step in dealing with your trauma by talking out loud to a professional about it - without a doubt you should continue this very important process and not be put off.

Best of luck op

There is an obligation on the part on anyone employed in the public health service to preserve a duty of care to anyone who might be vulnerable to abuse of any kind. In other words, your psychiatrist is obliged to report any information you give her to the Gardai if you identify the abusive individual.

On the other hand, the HSE employee also has a duty of care to the reporting individual, to protect them and not force them into a legal situation unwillingly and maybe at the expense of their mental well-being.

So normally what happens is that your treatment will be continued with the psychiatrist or whoever you are seeing from that MultiDisciplinary Team (MDT), and you will be referred to a nominated team member (usually a social worker) to discuss whether you want to disclose the identities of the abuser/s, and to support you in whatever you decide. You will be given the opportunity to look at reporting the abuse from all angles, allowed to decide for yourself what you want to do, and supported in that decision. The treating person will not generally be concerned with the specifics and will treat you as you are.

I hope you find this information useful.

prioriincantem wrote: »

I had an appointment in a psychiatric ward today to discuss my mental health, and something that I struggle with a lot is coping with my history of sexual assaults.

I had never told anyone out loud before about it, and I broke down and told the Professor about it today, and she said that legally she has to report the incidents because any information I give to her, if it is felt that either myself or anyone else could be in danger, she's legally obligated to pass the information over to authorities.

I didn't tell her the names, she said that I should get a phone call in the next few weeks asking me about it.

I don't know what to do. One of the men is in jail currently for the rape of a 13 year old. While it breaks my heart to know that I wasn't the last person that he hurt, I'm also terrified to speak up, because i know that the girl that rightfully went to the authorities has gotten hopped on a load because of it and got bet really badly with a knuckle duster.

i'm already constantly paranoid and afraid that I might see them as I live locally to them both. I don't want to endanger myself.

What can I do? If I refuse to name them or decline to talk about it will they call me again?

If you want to have any chance of getting these scum banged up you should go to the Gardaí and tell them everything you know.