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THE MOTHER OF Dara Quigley has called for the introduction of strong legislation in the area of online harassment and abuse, two years after the journalist and activist died by suicide.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) will bring the case of Dara before the Oireachtas Justice Committee this morning, and her mother Aileen Malone has backed the submission being made by the ICCL before the committee.
The campaign group will today make calls to TDs and Senators for legislation on image-based sexual violence, known as revenge porn.
Malone said such legislation is “needed urgently to protect all vulnerable people, their families and friends, and to reduce the cruel behaviour of a minority that can be shared and spread rapidly online causing widespread hurt and devastating consequences”.
Dara had been walking naked on a Dublin street and CCTV footage of her arrest was uploaded to WhatsApp and subsequently to Facebook where it was viewed over 100,000 times.
She took her own life a number of days later.
As well as being known as a journalist, Dara Quigley was a prominent anti-water charge and anti-austerity activist.
Her mother Aileen added: “Dara used the power of social media but was also damaged through it. She believed in the power of free speech and the democratic process. It is right that her voice – through this submission by the ICCL – is being heard.”
ICCL submission
In its submission to the Oireachtas committee, the ICCL said that it takes issue with the term revenge porn because “it isn’t pornography, it’s abuse”.
“Image-based sexual abuse is widespread,” it said. “Perpetrators include former/current intimate partners, acquaintances, and/or anonymous trolls.
Diverse experiences can range from chilling effects to online participation with peers, withdrawal from public spaces, job loss and loss of economic opportunity, widespread online and offline harassment, and significant mental health impacts.
Referencing the Dara Quigley case, the ICCL said that accountability for the use of the recording of her on the street and the effect it had on her mental health “remains elusive”.
“No individual or organisation has been held responsible,” it said.
This is in part because of an inadequate legal framework around the use and abuse of sexualised imagery without consent, a lack of transparency around individual company standards on moderation content and removal, and a culture of online harassment that mirrors real world ills.
The ICCL claimed that an absence of legislation in this area means that “perpetrators often go unpunished and victims are left without protection or justice”.
It calls for specific laws to be implemented to criminalise image-based sexual abuse and ensure accessible civil remedies for online harassment, including restitution and compensation.
The ICCL will appear before the Oireachtas Justice Committee from 9am this morning.
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It’s an absolute farce that the Garda, who recorded these images from CCTV and then shared them on WhatsApp, still has his job.
@Bingobango: am I reading this right? A Garda did that??
@MsDaisyDoll: yes. A garda did that…
And no mention of the fact that it was a guard that uploaded these pictures!
@Kath Noonan: first comment says so.
If it was disseminated through a member of An Garda Siochana , he must be prosecuted as must the organisation for allowing it to happen. Public placement of CCTV is there to protect society and not to humiliate publicly those captured on it
The Taxpayer-funded Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) are determined to curtail our constitutional right to freedom of expression they are manipulating this tragic case to further their agenda.
@Mary’s Abbey: So you believe that taking a person’s private images and sharing them online should be protected speech?
@Jerriko17: If you’d bothered to read the article the legislation being proposed is for “revenge porn” which was what I was referring to.
Also, the footage released (by a Guard no less) had been videoed off of a CCTV camera and then posted to WhatsApp. That’s not exactly “public”.
@Bob Earner: and I was merely commenting on this person’s predicament which is the headline…. If you were bothered to look.
@Jerriko17: No, you were commenting inaccurately on MY comment.
Had you bothered to read all the available information you would not have posted what you did.
It is a sensible assumption to think that if you’re going to comment on an article, the very least you can do it read that article.
Trying to retcon your screwup won’t work here. Maybe you’ll even learn your lesson and read the article next time. I doubt it though.
@Bob Earner: In case you forgot….. You were originally commenting on the manipulating of this case!!!!…take a lesson and stick to your own comments before putting your spin on someone else’s.
@Jerriko17: I asked a question. (which was never answered).
I see your comment has been deleted. Did you really request they delete your comment!? You really are trying to retcon your screwup! LOL
@Bob Earner: eh not excusing the Garda and RIP young lady…but your point about ‘ not exactly public’ is a bit moot when she was naked in a public street.
@Bob Earner: you posted in the “comments” section…. Dancing on the head of a pin (as you seem to be good at ) as to whether it’s a comment or question! and no, I didn’t ask to have the comment deleted. No retcon….. No screw up LOL!!
@Mary’s Abbey: They’re not and your freedom of expression is fully intact. Jog on with your hyperbolic nonsense.
Guards are great aren’t they.
Humiliating a person in social media is horrible. But as I see young women near naked and drunk every night on the streets shouldn’t the message include an exhortation to them to dress and behave with a view to their own protection
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