Two women from Unbroken Ireland, a pro-life group, spoke at an event held in Trinity on Monday. Unbroken Ireland attracted controversy last week when their posters advertising a public meeting were taken down by members of the Trinity People Before Profit group. The group was welcomed to College by an unaffiliated pro-life group of Trinity students, Students for Life – Dublin (TCD). Around 45 students attended the event in the GMB.
The meeting involved two speakers, Shauna Prewitt and Jennifer Christie, speaking of their experiences as survivors of rape, and pregnancy following rape.
They spoke about the trauma of rape and challenged the stigma attached to children who are conceived in this way. Prewitt also spoke about her advocacy on behalf of rape survivors whose rapists seek custody or visitation rights over their children.
The event in Trinity was organised in conjunction with an initiative by Unbroken called “Ending the Silence”, which has attracted controversy over the past week. Following the cancellation of a public meeting at both the Gibson Hotel and the Spencer Hotel in the IFSC, the women spoke at an open air meeting outside the Spencer Hotel last Thursday.
Meanwhile, last week, two members of the Trinity People Before Profit group were reprimanded by the Central Societies Committee (CSC) for posting two images on Facebook showing them taking down posters advertising the public meeting. The now-deleted Facebook post read: “2 comrades, 1 pair of scissors, 32 vile anti-choice posters surrounding the campus. A successful evening indeed. Fuck the anti-choice brigade and their attempts to intimidate and shame women. We’re fighting for free, safe, legal abortion in 32 counties.”
Additional reporting by Niamh Lynch and Michael Foley.