Lived Realities: Victim-Survivors’ Experiences of Irish Sexual Offence Trials

Susan Leahy, professor and researcher at the School of Law at the University of Limerick, is working with Dr. Rong Bao on a project which investigates victim-survivors’ experiences of sexual offence trials in Ireland. This research is funded by the Research Ireland COALESCE funding scheme. 

Project Overview

This research project is entitled ‘Lived Realities: Victim-Survivors’ Experiences of Irish Sexual Offence Trials’. A full overview of the project is available on their webpage (www.ul.ie/lived-realities). This project seeks the views of victim-survivors about their lived experiences of the trial process. Informed by the participants’ views, proposals for further law and policy reforms will then be designed which directly respond to the concerns raised by the research participants. Professor Leahy and Dr. Bao hope to interview victim-survivors who have had experience of a sexual offence trial from 1st of January 2019 onwards. 

What does participation involve?

Interviews will take approximately 60 to 90 minutes and will be audio-recorded and transcribed. The audio-recording will be securely stored on the researcher’s OneDrive account and will be deleted once it is transcribed. Interviews may take place in person where a suitable location is available or will otherwise take place online via Microsoft Teams. Participants who wish to do so may bring a support person to be present at the interview. Participants will be provided with a list of the proposed questions in advance of the interview. Participants are free to refuse to answer any question they are not comfortable with and may do so prior to or during the interview itself. Participants may also take a break at any stage during the interview and/or ask that the recording be stopped. After the interview, participants will be provided with a copy of their transcript and offered an opportunity to provide any feedback on the interview process. 

The information gathered in the project will be used in a report which will highlight the lived experiences of victim-survivors and offer voice to their views on the trial process and associated laws and procedures. This report will be publicly available and will also be used to inform a subsequent report which will outline proposals for reform of the trial process which are informed by the perspectives of the research participants. The research gathered from the interviews will also be published in other academic outputs associated with the project, such as papers in academic journals. 

The benefit for participants is to offer them an opportunity to share their experiences and inform future development and reform of the trial process. Participation is entirely anonymous. To ensure protection of participants, details of available support services will be made available to participants throughout the research process, as explained below in Support. 

Anonymity

All participants in this project are guaranteed anonymity and cofidentiality. Any potentially identifying information will be removed from the intreview transcript and will not be referred to in any of the project outputs All data collected will be securely stored and will only be accessed by the researchers. Participants will be fully briefed on what information about them will be used in the project, how it will be stored and for how long. 

Withdrawal from the Project

Participants may withdraw their participation in the project without having to explain or give 
a reason up to a period of two weeks after the interview is completed. 

Support

The team are very aware that participation in this survey may be distressing. Significant care has been taken to ensure that the research is conducted in a trauma-informed way. Futher, participants and potential participants will be provided with details of relevant support services in all of the project literature and resources and at all stages of the interview process itself (information letter, prior to the interview and in the interview follow-up contacts). 

Further Information 

Should you have any further questions in relation to the project, please do not hesitate to contact Professor Leahy via email at susan.leahy@ul.ie OR realities@ul.ie 

This research study has received Ethics approval from the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee (Approval Ref: 2026_04_02_AHSS(Y)_REV1). If you have any concerns about this study or your participation and wish to contact an independent authority, you may contact: Chairperson Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee , AHSS Faculty Office, University of Limerick; Tel: +353 61 202286; Email: FAHSSEthics@ul.ie