I’ve recently had reason to revisit the excellent podcast documentary “Where is George Gibney”, produced by Mark Horgan and Ciaran Cassidy in association with Second Captains. The reason I’ve been re-listening is because in April, the podcast is hosting a live event in the National Concert Hall in Dublin and the producers are donating all proceeds to One in Four -and I’m very much looking forward to attending!
Parts of the podcast are stamped in my memory from my first listen. For example, the first mention of Ger Doyle, who coached me as part of my school swimming lessons in New Ross in the late eighties, early nineties. Also, the mention by one of the survivors of seeing George Gibney’s daughter in the car with him and thinking to herself ‘this might be safe, he wouldn’t do anything with his daughter present?’ This piece reminded me of one person I spoke with as part of my research who experienced abuse at the hands of multiple abusers. On one occasion he recalled being brought to a house where a group of men were waiting for him. He noted that one of the men was carrying a shopping bag and he thought to himself, ‘is he the normal one, is he safe’. He associated the ‘normality‘ of the shopping bag with ‘safety’; searching for the normal in the abnormal.
The podcast itself is excellent in many ways. It’s presentation of abuse, and its potential effects on a human life, are portrayed via the voices of the survivors. It excellently portrays the dynamics of grooming and how the abuser grooms the social circle around the victim (dinner with families etc.), makes the victim feel special, isolates the victim, and ultimately orchestrates situations where the abuse can take place, often under the guise of ‘the normal‘ (a lift home, helping with swimming gear, first aid practice etc.). The documentary also presents an insight into how some of the victims felt they were the only one, while others had a strong sense that others were being abused. Many only came forward upon hearing the documentary.
As individual as the individual themselves
The documentary’s focus on a single abuser, George Gibney, also acts as a control and allows us to see the individual nature of the impact of abuse; each person abused by this one person but each experiencing varying life outcomes. We can hear from each one, how the experience stays with them now in different ways; as individual as the individuals themselves! Some managing to live their lives, while others struggle on a daily basis.
I’ve thought about this individual nature of the experience of abuse in my own work over the years. In that context, I’ve defended small sample sizes in my research, the non-generalisability of my research findings, my belief that no matter how broad a sample of the population, we can never generalize about the impacts, the feeling, of having been abused. Such feelings and experiences don’t define the person, but they are unique to the person. As part of this work, I’ve often struggled with the questions, “does society get this”, “do we get this”, “do we recognize the individual nature of abuse”? Do we strive to adopt that cornerstone of trauma-informed care, of meeting the person where they are at, in the midst of their reality, with their lived-expertise guiding the way. It’s hard. It’s hard to develop a system, normally state-funded or backed, to recognize and respond to such individuality. However, within the individuality there are commonalities.
Lessons learned… and forgotten
Fintan O’Toole had a piece in the Irish Times on New Years day, heralding the New Year with a warning. He was discussing the pandemic, and the all too familiar lexicon that has arisen around it; variants, PPE, ventilation, vaccination etc. He discussed the need for us, as a society, to use the knowledge we have, the knowledge that sits in front of us, to pre-empt the repetitive nature of certain events. This got me thinking about other areas of society, other societal experiences through our history that have played out again and again over time. Experiences that have caused us to learn hard lessons, lessons we have not retained. Specifically our history of sexual abuse of children within organisations. Yes, this has been considered extensively, even Fintan O’Toole himself in his recent book “We don’t know ourselves”, addresses our history and legacy of abuse.
Dr Helen Buckley, Emeritus Professor and Chair of the National Review Panel, has previously highlighted the phenomenon of ‘recommendation fatigue’ when discussing our learnings from such horrors of our past. But unfortunately, none of this is past. We live through it to the point that it has, like covid, almost been normalized as a feature of society. In the 1990s we lived through it in the context of abuse in the church, in the 2000s we lived through it in the context of revelations about our state institutions, in the 2010s we lived through it in terms of organisations like swimming, and more recently we lived through it in terms of Scouting Ireland. Today we live through it in terms of St John Ambulance. Mick Finnegan a survivor of abuse perpetrated by a member of St Johns Ambulance, has through his advocacy and through speaking out, raised awareness of the abuse which has led others to come forward. Currently there are 7 individuals who have come forward and disclosed their experiences of abuse within the organisation by the same individual; echoing the pattern of George Gibney as discussed in the documentary. Prof. Geoffrey Shannon has been commissioned to compile a report on the safeguarding with the organisation. With the utmost of respect to Prof. Shannon and his exemplary work, the questions remains, will we learn something new and what are we doing now for those impacted?
Derval McDonagh (Inclusion Ireland) in a recent op ed in the Irish Examiner, spoke about ‘a pattern of outrage’, “outrage at the stories of abuse followed by silence”. She was writing in relation to the recent public outcry in respect of the abuses in residential services for people with intellectual disabilities. Much like the pattern, discussed above in relation to sexual abuse of children in general, McDonagh was able to point to the previous ‘outcries’; the Grace Case, the Brandon Case, and, I would add, the case of Mary. Inquiries, findings, recommendations… all the while missing the person; the individual effected by the abuse. McDonagh asks, where are the human rights visible in all of these cases?
Hear, See, and Speak
While we can’t preempt these reports and their findings, we know, at least in a general sense, what these reports will find; as we have been here before with other organisations, other similar situations. Reporting structures, record keeping, appropriate vetting being the most likely headlines. As I say, we can’t preempt the reports but we do know what steps we can take now to support those coming forward, by providing adequate information, clarity, communication, and tailored supports. Interestingly, our overarching EU Law, under the EU Victim’s Directive provides for such features, specifically for victims of sexual violence. The Directive aims to support victims irrespective of whether or not an ‘offender is identified, apprehended, prosecuted or convicted and regardless of the familial relationship between them’ (Section 19) and promotes provision of a right to understand and be understood, a right to clarity about your own case, a right to adequate support services, and a right to protection against re-victimization. Imagine if such rights were fulfilled whenever, and wherever, a victim or survivor came forward?
The downside of an EU Directive is that it is left to the individual member state to decide how to incorporate the Directive into national law. In Ireland, we have taken a narrow approach to adoption of the Directive. Such rights and services currently come into play when the individual contacts a ‘competent authority’. We have incorporated this as meaning in the context of the criminal justice system only, contacting the Gardaí. When in fact the Directive was broad enough to incorporate ancillary processes such as child protection.
Victims and survivors should have access to such rights and supports as soon as they come forward, and in fact I would suggest that, for those still in silence, knowledge of such universal support may even serve as a consideration in whether to come forward or not. I’ve argued elsewhere for a Barnahus-type approach to adult disclosures of abuse – a wrap-around suite of services that is person-centred and accessible and springs into action once the person comes forward; providing for therapy, counselling, legal advice, and medical needs – primary care for sexual violence!!
Doing what we’ve always done?
So what’s my point here? What I am trying to articulate is that there are situations playing out in front of our eyes today that, at least in a general sense, we know the outcomes of. I caution, in a general sense, as we can’t preempt individual nuance and technicality. I’m arguing that as a state there are steps that can be taken to meet people where they are at and support their needs without absorbing liability, without altering the course of an investigation or an enquiry, and without denying rights to those alleged to have committed the abuse. We can see trauma and need, and address this from a perspective of care.
To conclude, I have an ask. The Department of Justice is currently running a public consultation on the next Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence Strategy and I would encourage all members of the public to engage… after all this effects us all. As part of the draft DSGBV strategy it is proposed that a new authority will be established, with responsibility for DSGBV. Maybe this new authority can be classified as a ‘competent authority’ under the EU Directive, meaning that when individuals approach it they will be met with a comprehensive, informative, and supportive response tailored to their needs, irrespective of any criminal justice process.
Hearing, seeing, and speaking to those impacted, meeting the person where they are at… and drawing on those hard lessons that we have learned far too often?
Too optimistic?
Irish Social Work 
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