Jeffrey Donaldson sentencing: Survivors' pain of hearing people in cafes and hairdressers discuss their abuse
The two survivors of sexual abuse by Jeffrey Donaldson have told how painful it was to hear people in cafes speculate about the most painful details of their lives without being able to correct them.
Both survivors recounted very similar stories, which in one sense was evidence of how effective the strict anonymity orders were which ensured that their identities and privacy were kept under wraps.
Complainant A said she always knews the media attention on the case would be "massive".
"The media attention was very hard and I think the speculation online, reading people's comments about you, people speculating even about the type of abuse, is so painful because it's something so deeply personal that to have it dissected and have people pick over it is unbelievably painful,” she said, in an audio transcript released by police.
People must remember that the survivors are not just labels but real people.
"I remember going to a hair appointment and sitting in the hairdressers on one occasion and everybody was talking about it,” she said.
"I remember going to a coffee shop with my husband and my children and the people sitting at the table next to us were talking about it and that's really painful. I hope that maybe this process in some ways will remind people that these are lives, that there are victims everywhere.
"Friends, neighbours, colleagues at work, there are victims everywhere and you never know who's listening."
Complainant B told a similar story about how hurtful the speculation is when people around her talk about the case.
"And you cannot say anything. You can hear conversations at work when it's been on the radio or an article has been out ... and everybody has their opinion on it.
"But that opinion's about my life and what happened to me and I cannot go and say you're right or you're wrong.
"And that's one of the hardest things. When you're out somewhere and you hear a table beside you talk about it like they know everything about it.
"You're just like, 'You haven't got a clue and that is my life that you're talking about'."
She urged people not to engage in such conversations because there could be people right next to them who were also survivors with anonymity protections in place.
She also expressed frustration that there are political rallies about so many issues - but none about children being sexually abused in Northern Ireland.
Children just can't understand what is happening to them, she said
"There has to be stuff created for kids to know that this is wrong. Who do you talk to? We have rallies and of everything across the world about so many things but yet when have we ever had a rally to say that this was wrong, that people to stand up and kids can recognise and see that?"
She could not offer enough praise for the police, prosecutors and barristers she dealt with.
"If it hadn't been for them, I wouldn't have got through it. In all honesty, they have been incredible.They have gone, I believe, above and beyond.
"They all genuinely care, - you can see it in their faces and you can see it in their bodies that they genuinely really care.”
She added: "For any other victims considering coming forward, she said, "the support you will get was more than I expected and more than I could have ever wished for and that has been brilliant".