27 November 2020
As the mother of Dara Quigley, who died tragically two days after she realised that images of her naked recorded in a public place were shared widely on Facebook and other social media, I want to extend my sympathy and support to all people who have ever been affected by the sharing of their intimate images without consent online.
I know from experience that this can generate trauma, shame and humiliation. It is not your fault. You did not give consent for this. Please speak to someone you trust and seek help from someone who is in a position to help you.
No criminal action was taken against those who shared the CCTV images of Dara onto and around the internet. In 2017 in Ireland there was no specific law against it. There is still no specific law against it.
The sharing of private, intimate images or any image of a person to hurt or humiliate or for entertainment is wrong. It is abuse. It causes immense hurt and pain and damage.
Dara’s death by suicide is dreadful enough but the circumstances surrounding her passing have haunted us and always will. That video is the last image that we have of her, it has dominated ours and others’ memories of her.
The 90 second video of her in a most vulnerable state was passed around from one person to another for others’ entertainment. Music was added to the video, and hurtful comments placed underneath it. The hurt and the shame of this would be enough to drive a stable person to despair. It caused my daughter, who was in an already difficult position, to take her own life. When a suicide occurs, it devastates the family, the community, the society. When a person is degraded, the people doing it, the community, the society is degraded also.
Now we realise that what happened to Dara was not an isolated incident. It is happening on a grand scale and specifically to Irish women because there are no specific laws in place to protect them. However there is immense work being done by many people for the past few years to produce this legislation.
I urge our government to do its work and to act immediately to pass the Online Harassment Bill to outlaw image based sexual abuse. You must protect everyone and take a stand against abuse. The perpetrators of this abuse must be held accountable, the social media companies must be made responsible, a Digital Rights Commissioner must be put in place. Our state institutions must take a stand against this.
ENDS/