Victim of random street assault has become symbol of the legal system’s handling of gender-based violence
The case of a soldier who brutalised a woman in a random street attack and walked free from court has prompted protests across Ireland.
Thousands of people marched in Cork, Dublin, Galway and Limerick on Saturday to show solidarity with Natasha O’Brien, 24, who has become a symbol of the legal system’s handling of gender-based violence.
“I chose to speak up because I couldn’t imagine the impact on other victims. This is enough. This is the time for it to end,” O’Brien told the Limerick rally.
Earlier this week O’Brien condemned a suspended jail sentence that allowed her attacker, Cathal Crotty, 22, to avoid prison and said the court case had caused fresh trauma. A government minister called the case a “watershed moment” and activists called for legal reform.
Crotty beat O’Brien unconscious in Limerick city centre on 29 May 2022 after she asked him to stop shouting homophobic slurs to passersby.
The army private, who was off-duty and had been drinking, grabbed O’Brien by the hair, knocked her to the ground and punched her at least six times, inflicting a broken nose, swelling, bruising and a concussion.
