Bláthnaid Raleigh, whose rapist Jonathan Moran was jailed for eight years, has said it was important for society to have his name and his face out there.
Ms Raleigh said that generally when you think of sexual violence you think of older creepy men, but Moran was 21 at the time and was her peer and that these crimes are happening in the locality.
“I think that’s a massive problem that the younger demographic can’t acknowledge the fact that these crimes are happening within our circles as well and is probably why victims don’t want to come out, don’t want to name people because it’s so close to home”.
She said that while Moran served the sentence, she could move on knowing he was not near her so that removes any immediate fear.
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“I kind of take the view that I have done a five-year sentence already, I’m going to continue to do a sentence.
“The custodial sentence never really meant a lot for me, it was more the validation from the court that you are believed, and we know this happened and he can’t avoid this any longer. I am happy with the sentence,” Ms Raleigh said.
She added that she gets great comfort from people knowing what he did and that the shame is firmly placed on him, which she said was probably “coming from a selfish point of view”.
She explained that he had been walking around locally with his head held high, continued to play rugby and socialise in his rugby club and continued in his job.
Ms Raleigh said one of the most traumatic parts was that his life continued to be completely normal while hers was “shattered”.
She said that she felt everything she knew and loved was taken away from her because of what happened.
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“Now all these people know exactly what he had been doing and what he was hiding during that time.
“When I was locked away not doing anything, when I was totally isolated in the aftermath of that and that brings me great comfort,” she said.
She added that she gave a lot of thought to waving her anonymity but she had a lot of sleepless nights due to being worried.
“I would read cases and I was never able to put a face to a case, or say this has happened to someone the same age as me.
“A lot of the cases were historical cases and equally as horrific, but nobody was like me and I thought if I can do it and at least offer comfort to one person sitting at home at night who can’t sleep, they’ll say ‘she’s like me, she looks like me, she has the same kind of lifestyle and she has made it this far.
“I thought well if I can give somebody that bit of comfort,” Ms Raleigh said.
She said that in the trial she always hoped she would get a reason for why he did what he did, to make it understandable, but after the case still nobody knows why.
She added that it was almost like he just saw an opportunity.
She said that during the case she went through so many emotions and questions arose
“Was this that bad, why can’t I move on from this? Why is my life still paying the price for this?
“When (the judge) made the comments and gave that sentence, it’s like this is why this is so bad.
“When you hear an outsider say this is horrific and you don’t treat another human like that, you do get comfort from that, she said.
She added that it is such a long process in a trial and the trials bring up a lot of trauma but that in the long term, she hoped that getting justice offers a comfort and finality to it.
“I think it’s important as a wider society to have his name and his face out there,” Ms Raleigh added.
