Thousands of people demonstrated Saturday around Ireland in support of the victim of an attack by an Irish soldier who was given a suspended sentence last week.

In response to the support of people across the nation for her cause, attack victim Natasha O’Brien stated:

I’d like to say I’m absolutely overwhelmed by your solidarity and your support, and without your rage, your outrage, your fear, and your horror, this would not have been looked at. What happened to me was horrific. I experienced an extremely violent assault at the hands of a soldier in the Irish Defence Forces. They are supposed to protect us.

The case originates from an incident that occurred on May 29, 2022, when Cathal Crotty, an Irish Defence Forces soldier, hit O’Brien unresponsive in Limerick city centre after she called for him to stop propelling homophobic insults at spectators.

Activists say that Judge Tom O’Donnell noted he had to consider Crotty’s early guilty plea and his apologies to the victim when determining Crotty’s punishment and stated that Crotty’s army career would end if he received an immediate sentence. The court ultimately ordered Crotty to compensate O’Brien €3,000, to which he promised to comply.

Women’s rights organizations throughout the nation have strongly criticized the ruling, primarily arguing that the court placed greater emphasis on the soldier’s career than on women’s safety. In an interview, one of the demonstrators stated:

It has happened time and time again. We’ve organized so many protests This is a systematic issue, it is systematic gender-based violence and it is constantly justified especially in the Irish court system and justice system. The survivor of this attack deserves justice so we’re here today to advocate for that.

The verdict was handed out only two days after Women’s Aid Ireland revealed that the rate of domestic abuse disclosures in the country is at its highest ever in the last 50 years.