ABUSE SURVIVORS FIONA Doyle and Cynthia Owen were in Dublin’s Camden Court Hotel today for the launch of the ANU Campaign for Truth, Rights and Justice Conference.

The grassroots programme hopes to make it easier for victims of sexual abuse to tell their stories through a public awareness campaign. Its founders also want to advocate for change, improvement and more transparency in Ireland’s justice system with regard to how survivors are treated in sex abuse cases.

“ANU stands for A New Understanding, which is exactly what is needed regarding the issue of sex abuse in Ireland,” the group says on its website.

The movement will undertake a series of initiatives and actions, including seminars, educational guidelines and events.

Organisers want to highlight the marginalisation, exclusion and discrimination of survivors throughout the justice system and push for greater education, training and support services.

They want to work with already-established, relevant agencies to achieve ANU’s objectives and “ensure the voice of the survivor is heard, acknowledged and acted upon”.

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Speakers at today’s event included Ellen O’Malley Dunlop of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Fine Gael TD Mary Mitchell O’Connor and Fiona Doyle’s daughter Kristel O’Brien.

Read: Fiona Doyle thanks public for support after abuse ruling