Organisations working with women who are victims of sexual assault and violence have expressed their concern about the potential negative impact the verdict in the Belfast rape trial will have on women coming forward to report such crimes.

All four defendants in the trial were acquitted of all charges on Wednesday, following a nine-week trial.

Ulster and Ireland rubgy player, Paddy Jackson, was found not guilty of rape and sexual assault, Ireland and Ulster rugby player Stuart Olding was found not guilty of rape, their friend Blane McIlroy was found not guilty of exposure and another friend, Rory Harrison, was found not guilty of perverting the course of justice and withholding information.

The jury reached its unanimous verdicts after three hours and 40 minutes of deliberation.

Responding to the verdicts, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) said that it is concerned that the reporting on this case ‘will further deter those who might otherwise report rape'.

"Those who report in cases where the defence claims the sex was consensual will be afraid of the treatment they may receive in court. And yet, if complainants don't report, rapists will not be brought to justice. If rapists are not brought to justice, those who are harmed are not vindicated and our whole society is less safe," it said.

It noted that this case centred on the issue of consent and it highlighted the need for anyone engaged in sexual activity to ensure that their partner has consented.

"Submission is not consent. A person does not have to yell or call out for help. A person may be frozen. All of these are normal and real responses. They are not consent. Consent involves active agreement. Anything less is unacceptable," the DRCC explained.

It noted that when consent is contested, ‘both sides are fighting for a win'.

"For the defendants, they win if they can convince the jury that there is an element of doubt in the woman's story. They do not have to prove that they are innocent. For the prosecution to win, the woman's evidence - and the police and medical evidence - must be believed by the jury. The defendants can only be found guilty if the State proves its case beyond a reasonable doubt," it said.

The DRCC also expressed concern about how trials for sexual violence are conducted. It noted that in this case, there were four defendants and the woman spent six days being cross examined by four legal teams.

"She was unrepresented. Each of the legal teams was headed by a skilled and experienced Queens Counsel familiar with the courts and criminal processes. As far as could be established, this young woman had no experience of the courts or of such a trial.

"When she tried to explain the impact of the rape, she was accused of reading up on it rather than experiencing it. In order to achieve the law's legitimate aim of trying to rock her evidence, she was put into a grilling, relentless legal process, unrepresented, for six days," it pointed out.

The DRCC acknowledged that there are differences in how rape trials are held in the Republic. Here, the public are excluded and neither the complainant or the accused is named until the trial is over. Sometimes those involved are not named even after a conviction.

"While there are some difficulties with our system, this case shows that it is a more humane system as the naming of high profile defendants was a significant factor in the interest of the press and public in this case," it said.

Meanwhile Safe Ireland, the social change agency for domestic violence, has said that it is ‘appalled, saddened and shocked' by the verdict.

It asked why a woman in either the North or South of Ireland would consider reporting a rape following firstly the treatment of the woman in court, and secondly, the verdict reached by the jury'.

It said that the outcome of this case signifies ‘a distressing low point in gender equality in this country'.

"What this case makes abundantly clear is that, North and South, we don't have a system that is fit for purpose for women to come forward with confidence that they will be believed and treated with sensitivity and respect.

"Women are being raped every day, not by strangers, but by people they know, people they are intimately involved with, and most often in their own homes. Our biggest worry is that this verdict will have a chilling effect on all women coming forward to tell authorities that they have been raped and abused," commented Caitriona Gleeson, programme manager with Safe Ireland.

Safe Ireland also said that it regards this verdict as ‘a sobering reflection of a culture that has become immune to the sexualisation and objectification of women and girls'.

"The jury in this case was made up of ordinary citizens, reflective of the society and culture we all live in, who listened for weeks and deliberated carefully but who ultimately delivered a verdict that says that what happened in that house was acceptable and was somehow normal," Ms Gleeson added.

The 24-hour helpline for the Rape Crisis Centre is 1800 778 888.
The 24-hour Women's Aid national helpline is 1800 341 900.
A full list of locally based emergency services for victims of domestic violence is available here