Thousands of images of Irish women and girls uploaded to site containing sexual threats
The pictures appear to have been taken from both the public and private social media accounts of those targeted, with some posted alongside sexual threats.
They appeared on content sharing site Reddit in an Irish subgroup which encourages its 3,200 plus members to 'trade' images of 'IRL (in real life) girls' for sexual gratification.
Many of those images include teenagers in their school uniforms, alongside their names, ages and locations. Their schools are also easily identifiable.
Other pictures were of women, some clearly taken without consent. Most of the content was published alongside misogynistic, sexist and explicit comments, most of which is too offensive to publish.
One post included an image of a woman getting into a car, clearly taken without her knowledge. It was uploaded to the Irish subgroup, where one user encouraged others to share similar images.
The group specifically targeted women and girls from the north and south of Ireland, with some posts listing victims by county. Requests were also made to upload images of females from specific towns and cities.
After being made aware of the forum by
The Journal Investigates
, Clíona Saidléar, Executive Director of the Rape Crisis Network Ireland urged gardaí to investigate.
She said that due to the seriousness of the content involved, she would be unable to provide further comment.
'This is a matter for gardaí and I would urge them to investigate,' Saidléar said.
In a statement issued to
The Journal Investigates
, a Reddit spokesperson confirmed it had now taken down the group, which had been active since August 2024.
'Non-consensual intimate media has no place on Reddit,' a spokesperson said.
'We prohibit this content and have teams, tools, and processes dedicated to dedicating and removing it. In line with our policies, the community in question was banned.'
PSNI 'will take action'
The Journal Investigates
also contacted gardaí about the activities of the online forum. However, at the time of publication, it had not responded to requests for comment.
However, in a statement issued to
The Journal Investigates
, the PSNI said it will 'take action if images of women and girls of an explicit nature are shared online' and vowed to investigate 'any harmful threats made'.
PSNI Detective Superintendent (DS) Lindsay Fisher said: 'We recently launched our Power to Change campaign which is aimed at placing a societal focus on those who objectify and disrespect women.
Advertisement
'The main purpose of this campaign is a call to action, where boys and men are asked to speak out against misogynistic behaviour and talk to friends or family who may be engaging either in person or online in this way.
DS Fisher added that 'all women and girls should be free and feel safe' to use social media without being 'the subject of abuse and objectification'.
'As a Police Service we will take action if images of women and girls of an explicit nature are shared online, and will investigate any harmful threats made.'
Reddit, where users can create niche online communities called 'subreddits', allows users to share content, discuss topics and interact with others who share similar interests.
Each subreddit has its own set of rules, and is moderated by self-appointed 'community members'.
The subgroup in question was set up and moderated by one account since August last year. That account, under an anonymous username, claimed to be a male from Ireland who had just celebrated his 18th birthday.
Some using the group also claimed to be still in school, with some organising 'trades' of images on other platforms.
One disturbing post, named a school in the north of Ireland and requested 'stories' of girls aged '15 or 16'.
In another, users were asked to upload pictures of their female relatives.
File image of the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.
Rollingnews.ie
Rollingnews.ie
In 2020,
gardaí launched an investigation
into the alleged uploading of images and videos of Irish women and girls, without their consent, to a number of online forums.
It was after advocacy and lobbying group Victims Alliance claimed tens of thousands of images had been shared, many including minors.
However,
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris
later said there have been no formal complaints made of image-based sexual abuse in relation to the images.
He also confirmed that around 10,000 images had been assessed, but none contained 'images of child abuse within them'.
—
Patricia Devlin is an investigative reporter with
The Journal Investigates
.
Our investigative unit is dedicated to lifting the lid on how Ireland works. This takes time and it takes resources. Find out how you can help:
Support The Journal Investigates
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Learn More
Support The Journal
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Extra.ie
16 minutes ago
- Extra.ie
Controversy flares over recent deportation of families and young children
Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan was told to emphasise the 'nous and soft skills' of gardaí as controversy flared over the recent deportation of families and young children from Ireland. In a briefing on the removal of school-going children to Nigeria, the minister was told families could have avoided this outcome and returned voluntarily to their country. A Q&A prepared for Mr O'Callaghan said he was 'very conscious' of questions over whether Irish people would be comfortable with the enforced removal of Irish-born children. Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan. Pic: Leah Farrell/ When asked about it, a suggested answer for him said: 'It's one of the reasons that we are very lucky to have people in An Garda Síochána with the nous and the soft skills to manage what can be a difficult human experience for all the people concerned.' The details were contained in a series of briefings for the Justice Minister on how to tackle tricky questions about expensive deportation charter flights to Nigeria and Georgia. The briefing said he should also be prepared for questions on whether the three charter flights – which together have cost at least €530,000 – were just for 'optics.' On how to respond, the minister was told: 'Forced deportations like these are the last option, not the first.' If asked about whether it was a good use of scarce Garda resources, Mr O'Callaghan was advised to emphasise how such operations needed to be done safely and with 'respect for the dignity' of those removed. The Q&A said: 'This may well be a difficult experience for the people being deported, which may include families with young children.' On value-for-money issues, the minister was given talking points saying that costs were 'relatively comparable' to removals on commercial flights. One suggested answer said: 'No specific cost-benefit analysis was carried out for the use of charters.' For a deportation flight to Nigeria, it said that one of the people on the flight had no fewer than 25 convictions. These were for theft, making gain by loss or deception, possession of drugs and numerous driving offences. On another deportation jet travelling to Georgia, one person had 63 convictions including money laundering, theft, and also the organisation of illegal immigration. Justice Minister Jim Callaghan. Pic: Leah Farrell/ Internal briefing documents said the absence of a human rights observer on a flight to Nigeria was 'deeply regrettable' but 'unavoidable.' Mr O'Callaghan was advised to expect queries on why a human rights report on the charter was not released publicly. If questioned, he was told to say he was 'happy it reflects very well on the operation.' The briefing added: 'I'm considering the question of publication but need to be sure that it won't have any operational implications.' Mr O'Callaghan was also told to be prepared for questions on the detention of unsuccessful asylum applicants in often overcrowded jails ahead of the deportation flights. A Q&A document said: 'The simple fact is that if people know that they are going to be removed, they may abscond.' He said this was based on garda intelligence and that while people could be held for up to 56 days, it was usually 'significantly less.' On whether women had been imprisoned, Mr O'Callaghan was told two were held in jail but that they were not mothers of children aged under 18. Asked about the documents, a department spokesman said: 'The Minister recognises that an enforced removal is an unfortunate and challenging experience for a child, which is why they are carried out only as a measure of last resort when the family concerned has not removed themselves from the State as they are legally required to. 'Children have only been returned as part of family units. The preferred option is to return people voluntarily.'
Irish Independent
9 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Irish Prison Service rejects plan to reopen Curragh military jail to deal with overcrowding
Department of Justice had repeatedly pushed for the reopening of the facility Ken Foxe Plans for the reopening of the old military prison at the Curragh have been quietly shelved, after a review found it would be neither cost-effective nor provide a safe environment for staff or prisoners. The Department of Justice had repeatedly pushed for the reopening of the facility in Co Kildare as part of new efforts to tackle dangerous levels of overcrowding in Irish jails. However, a feasibility report — which cost just over €16,000 — revealed a host of issues at the former jail, including dry rot and the absence of cabling. It found that there would be an exorbitant cost to make just 62 new jail spaces available.
Irish Independent
9 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Obituary: Father Patrick Ryan, priest known as ‘the Devil's Disciple' for his work as a bomb-maker with the IRA
He was born in Co Tipperary in 1930, the second son of a family of six on a small farm. He joined the Society of the Catholic Apostolate, the Pallottine Fathers, aged 14, became a talented amateur engineer and a mercy pilot as a missionary in Tanganyika. There were clues in his youth to what he would become. His mother was a gifted storyteller who gripped him with stories about her heroism and the wickedness of the Black and Tans a decade before he was born. All you had to do was mention the subject and she was off 'I was captivated by her stories,' he told his biographer, Jennifer O'Leary, in The Padre: The True Story of the Irish Priest Who Armed the IRA with Gaddafi's Money. 'It was like I was back there with her, watching and listening out for the enemy. All she wanted was for us to listen, and we did. All you had to do was mention the subject and she was off, it was in her bones.' From an early age, Ryan displayed characteristics that would be useful in facilitating mass murder: as an eight-year-old poacher of fish, pheasants and rabbits, he showed himself more ruthless than his siblings, who called him Paddy the Skinner. Later, in Tanganyika, he would show an aptitude and enjoyment for big game hunting. When he became a fierce anti-colonialist, he felt remorse for killing three elephants, saying: 'It was elephant country before any man or women.' But he showed no remorse for the men, women and children whose murders he facilitated: 'The only regret I have was that I wasn't more effective; that the bombs made with the components I supplied didn't kill more. That is my one regret.' He was bored with the spiritual part of his job and quit as a curate in 1973. He based himself for a time in Benidorm, collecting millions in donations from the Continent and beyond, which he laundered and delivered to the IRA in complex financial operations. But his major contribution was to transform the efficacy of the IRA's bombs, which had suffered from faulty detonators. In 1975, having spotted Memo Park timers in a Geneva shop window, he purchased the entire stock, which he re-engineered to become perfect bomb timers that would feature in atrocities including the 1979 Warrenpoint massacre of 18 British soldiers and the 1984 Brighton bombing that almost killed Margaret Thatcher. A skilful global arms and finance procurer — 'I set out to go around the world and discover the enemy of my enemy, the Brits, and make their enemy my friend' — he was also quartermaster of a brutally effective IRA murder squad in Belgium and a leading suspect in murders on the Continent. Amid furious international rows, Mrs Thatcher unsuccessfully sought to have him extradited from Belgium and Ireland ('Ryan is a really bad egg,' she told the then taoiseach Charles Haughey). Met with indifference in Belgium, hostility in Ireland and the obduracy of the European Court of Human Rights, she failed at every turn. You never know when you might need to call in a favour Ryan secured 30,000 votes as an Independent candidate in the 1989 European elections in Ireland. In 1993 he was expelled from the Pallottine Order 'for persistent refusal to comply with the legitimate instructions of his superiors'. He fell out with Martin McGuinness ('not to be trusted') and other prominent IRA men such as Joe Cahill ('reckless') and Brian Keenan (who 'should never have been let loose on society'). An attractive young English Protestant became smitten with him in London and sometimes shared the van in which he lived, but he permitted little intimacy in his life. 'I would say she was in love with me, yes,' he said. 'I gave it no thought, but I kept in touch with her because you see, you never know when you might need to call in a favour.' Indeed, she became a money mule until he ditched her as a security risk. 'The trick is to be patient,' he told his biographer, 'because, you see, every person wants something badly, and if you can wait and slowly find out what that something is and then provide it, you're a winner in any walk of life.'
