A teenager’s underwear has been used against her in an alleged rape case in Cork, sparking outrage among campaigners.
The barrister representing a man acquitted of raping a teenager in the city in southwest Ireland suggested the jury in the case should reflect on the underwear worn by the 17-year-old girl.
The 27-year-old man – who had denied raping the woman in a lane in Cork – was found not guilty by the jury of eight men and four women at the Central Criminal Court.
In her closing address, senior counsel Elizabeth O’Connell told the jury they should have regard for the fact the woman was wearing a thong with a lace front, according to The Irish Examiner.
“Does the evidence out-rule the possibility that she was attracted to the defendant and was open to meeting someone and being with someone? You have to look at the way she was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front,” she said.
Noeline Blackwell, the head of Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, said she was not surprised by the focus placed on the teenage girl’s underwear.

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