THE criminal justice system in Northern Ireland is "failing victims" of sex crimes and urgently needs reform, Máiría Cahill has told a rally in Belfast.
The SDLP councillor addressed the fifth annual Reclaim the Night march, which demands safer streets and an end to gender-based violence and abuse, in the city centre on Saturday.
A report by the Police Ombudsman, which was published in September, concluded that police had failed Ms Cahill and two other women who said they had been sexually abused by a senior member of the IRA when they were teenagers.
The suspect denied all wrongdoing and was acquitted of rape when the case against him collapsed.
Three PSNI officers were disciplined as a result of the Ombudsman's report, while a fourth who would have faced action had already retired.
A number of preliminary recommendations have been made relating to sex crime cases in a report by retired appeal court judge Sir John Gillen, in the wake of the Ulster Rugby rape trial earlier this year.
These include measures such as excluding the public from trials and making anonymity permanent, even after death.
Speaking at the rally, Ms Cahill urged people to engage in the consultation process for the Gillen review "because it's really the only way we have of making changes and making it easier for people to go through the process".
"The criminal justice system is currently failing rape victims and it's time for that to stop," she said.
"When you come forward the criminal justice system should treat you with care and respect, you should not be re-abused all over again simply for reporting your abuse.
"The conviction rate here is less than two per cent and that is absolutely scandalous. I was failed abysmally by the criminal justice system and I want to try and make sure it doesn't happen to anybody else."
