What stood out most of all for me were the number of accounts from women remarking that, while yes there has been some change, actually 2022 didn’t look that different to 2002, or 1992, or even 1982. 

The final straw from me was reading a quote from Prof Hannah McGee who, in 2002, led a nationwide survey on Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland: The SAVI Report. A follow on survey had been released in 2022, the Sexual Violence Survey, and commenting on the findings, Prof McGee remarked; “Whatever the statistical caveats, it seems not much, if anything, has changed for the better in 21 years. Sexual violence is an iceberg – huge and hidden.. And we need a serious national dialogue to figure out how to change it – because two decades later, much hard work, pain for many and big financial investment by government and charities do not seem to have brought about progress”. Reading that sent a shiver down my spine, and hammered home the very real possibility that we could still be here, fighting this fight, in 20 years time if something in our approach doesn’t change.

While there are a number of organisations doing amazing work in this space, the above quote indicated to me that something was not working, something was missing. When talking about this with a friend, they told me not to reinvent the wheel. I responded “the feckin wheel is broken!!”. 

Through research, I came across the Pyramid of Sexual Violence, which shows that our foundational attitudes and beliefs contribute to a society that creates people who commit sexual violence. Rape and femicide are not the acts of first time offenders, in the same way a thief doesn’t jump straight into robbing a bank. A rapist, a domestic abuser, a sexual assaulter - these people are created, and it starts with the normalisation of ‘locker room talk’, “boys will be boys”, objectifying women, wolf whistling or catcalling a woman across the street, staring at a jogger that passes and commenting about it with friends, the list sadly goes on…

When looking deeper into how this is so commonplace and normalised, it occurred to me that I’m all too familiar with these experiences, and yet I had never once reported it. It had never even occurred to me that it warranted reporting! I realised that sexual harassment is easier to commit than it is to report, and as long as that holds true, we’ll always be on the back foot. Sexual violence is the symptom, our foundational attitudes and beliefs are the root cause. If we don't take strong, meaningful action to solve the root cause, we’ll still be here in 20 years time. 

If you’ve made it this far, fair play to you. My hope with Reportd is that through providing a tool for easily and anonymously reporting sexual harassment, we can begin to chip away at our foundational attitudes and beliefs; firstly by undoing the normalisation we have associated with sexual harassment, and recognising it as behaviour that warrants reporting (which is absolutely does). Secondly, my hope is that once you’ve trusted us with your experience, we can bring that data to people who can create change, whether policy, research, the guards etc and use it to inform meaningful action. 

Sexual harassment is behaviour that warrants reporting. It doesn’t matter what it was, if it made you feel uncomfortable or icky or awkward, then your voice deserves to be heard and you have the right to report it.

That’s all from me :) I’m more than happy to connect and chat! You can find me on instagram, LinkedIn, or good ole’ fashioned email emily@reportd.ie.

- Emily

I first set up Reportd in 2022, after the murder of Aisling Murphy brought the issue of sexual violence to the forefront in a massive way for me. I remember watching the #NotAllMen camp mobilise and so much collective energy going into that discussion. I also remember using the #SheWasOnlyGoingForARun for a few days myself, before it was mentioned that the underlying victim blaming associated with that narrative, which I hadn’t even realised. It was so baffling to me that I’d been using this narrative that I thought was helpful, but which actually upheld subconscious beliefs around sexual violence - that it’s the victims fault, there must have been a reason for it, that they should have known better or that they were probably asking for it.