Apart from gardaí and victim support, the young woman cut a lone figure during her husband’s trial at the Central Criminal Court.
In contrast, relatives and others turned out to support the man in such numbers that their attendance in court had to be restricted some days.
The pressure on her from other Travellers was evident.
“Hold your head up high,” a female relative urged the Traveller man after he was jailed this week for 12½ years for raping and smothering his wife while armed with a knife.
“He’s a rapist,” his wife retorted.
The woman wrote in her victim-impact statement of being ostracised by many within her community over taking her husband to court, suggesting particular difficulties facing Traveller women who take action over domestic and gender-based violence.
The woman, who cannot be identified, said she was now raising her children alone and had become isolated from her community as it was “not the Traveller way” to bring its members to court.
Others in her community would have put up with what happened, but she followed through for the sake of her daughters, she said.
Her husband, not her, was “the monster”, she said.
The man, aged in his 20s, was convicted of raping, sexually assaulting, falsely imprisoning and making threats to kill his wife in Dublin in September 2023. His 35 previous convictions included burglary and breaching a protection order.
When imposing sentence on Monday, Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo said the woman was subjected to two rapes and two serious sexual assaults during a “terrifying experience”.
The man did not accept the guilty verdicts and expressed no remorse, the judge noted. Noting that there was little in the way of mitigation, he imposed a 13-year sentence, with the final six months suspended.
After sentence was handed down, the man’s supporters shouted at the woman, exchanging insults with her, before being removed from the court by gardaí.
The trial heard the couple married very young and had a turbulent relationship, with a number of safety and barring orders obtained over the years.
They rekindled their relationship after his release from prison but were living separately. She had travelled to his home on the day of the assaults.
She said the man climbed on top of her when she was in bed feeling unwell and put his hand over her nose and mouth, leaving her unable to breathe. She fought him off, sustaining injuries, left the bed but may have lost consciousness and fell on to the bed.
He had a knife, told her not to talk or shout, and threatened to “stab you to death” if the gardaí came, she said.
He later raped her. He then sexually assaulted her before raping her a second time, she said. She did not resist but made it clear she did not consent, she said.
The man denied both sexual assault and rape and claimed the woman had made it up.
In her victim statement, the woman said she thought her husband would be decent when they married, but he drank, gambled and scammed her out of her social welfare payments when she had children to feed.
He was “full of promises” on his release from prison but made her a prisoner in her own home and tried to kill her in her own bed. She has constantly worried about her safety and suffered flashbacks and nightmares since, she said.
Mary Brigid Collins, primary healthcare co-ordinator with Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, the representative group for Travellers, commends the woman “for her courage and bravery in coming forward”.
The centre stands “in solidarity with her and all people who are subjected to domestic and sexual violence” and hoped the necessary supports and services were in place for her, says Collins.
Describing domestic and sexual violence as “heinous crimes”, she says Pavee Point and other Traveller organisations undertake work in this area, and work with services and the community to prevent and address such violence and ensure survivors are supported.
Since 1998, Pavee Point has had a Violence Against Women programme, working with other Traveller organisations and service providers to address violence against Traveller and Roma women, including by awareness-raising programmes.
The work includes co-ordination of the Traveller Domestic Sexual Gender-based project, established in 2018, which maps out specific issues Traveller women face in relation to domestic and sexual violence and develops responses to those.
In 2021 the centre started its healthy relationship programme, aimed at giving a clear model of healthy relationships and addressing issues including consent.
We see some of the younger women pushing back; they may have seen domestic violence in their childhood and they don’t want the same for their kids
— Siobhán Ferguson, head of services at Sonas Domestic Violence Charity
Siobhán Ferguson, head of services at Sonas Domestic Violence Charity, says it is not unusual for Traveller women to be ostracised within their community if they involve gardaí or the courts in tackling domestic and gender-based violence.
“This young woman was incredibly brave,” she says.
Taking action over domestic violence is “very difficult for anyone” but “even more difficult” for Traveller women, she says.
Sonas operates a refuge in Dublin 15, has about 20 safe houses across the Greater Dublin Area and plans to open three more refuges in the next 18 months, she says.
The services include outreach, community supports and court accompaniment. About a quarter of its current service users are Travellers, says Ferguson.
“Traditionally, it would be quite common for Traveller women to come in for respite, to take a break from the home situation.”
Sonas sees Traveller women of all ages, and they generally return to their homes after respite but some “small changes” are emerging, she says.
“We see some of the younger women pushing back; they may have seen domestic violence in their childhood and they don’t want the same for their kids.”
There is “definitely an awareness” among Traveller women they can seek orders under the Domestic Violence Act, and Pavee Point has done a lot of awareness raising, she says.
The women can face problems using the court orders when they go back home. Some may want to leave their home situation but that can be very difficult because of “cultural norms” within their community, including disapproval of divorce, she says.
“Going to court or involving gardaí is not necessarily welcomed.”
Sources with experience of the family courts say Traveller women appear to be more prepared in recent years to seek interim barring and other orders under the Domestic Violence Act.
As with many non-Traveller applicants for such orders, Traveller women frequently do not come back to court on the return date, says one source.
“That may be because the man’s behaviour has improved but these women face particular difficulties because they can often be living close to their husband’s family and may face disapproval from their own family as well. There can be general opposition to involving gardaí in what some regard as private matters.”
When a woman gets an interim barring order, her husband or partner may simply move in with extended family nearby, says another source.
“There can be a big problem with indirect intimidation, and gardaí may be not in a position to monitor things.”
In the emergency domestic violence court in Dolphin House in Dublin on Friday, a Traveller woman obtained a protection order against her ex-husband.
The couple were separated for several years over his alleged continuing verbal abusive behaviour towards her. The woman told Judge Gerard Furlong her husband was physically and verbally abusive to her during their marriage.
She had secured protection orders several times in the past, dating from 2012, but never came back to court on the return dates, she said.
“I’m a Traveller woman,” she told the judge. “My family put pressure on me to drop the case.”
