RTÉ Media Centre

RTÉ One and RTÉ Player – Wednesday June 25th 21:35

1 x 50’ | Factual Documentary | Directed by Kathleen Harris | Produced by Laura Burns & Stephen McCormack REFLEKTOR MEDIA

After surviving a violent assault by a serving soldier—who was convicted but walked free with a suspended sentence—Natasha O’Brien, a young Irish woman, refuses to stay silent. 

Her public outcry against the lenient ruling ignites national protests and forces a reckoning with how the Irish justice system treats survivors of gender-based violence. This powerful, intimate documentary follows Natasha and is a portrayal of how the aftermath of a violent attack and the subsequent strain of the flawed justice system affects a young woman’s life and how she attempts to transform her trauma into activism. 

Along the way, she meets other women—Bláthnaid Raleigh, Maev McLoughlin Doyle,—who each share harrowing stories of how the system failed them too. Together, their voices form a chorus demanding change. Natasha also meets policymakers such as Ivana Bacik and experts in Criminology such as Dr. Ian Marder to understand how the system can be reformed as well as other activists and academics to understand the power of “taking up space” and being vocal about your experiences and the affect this can have on other victims who wish to speak out. 

We follow the subsequent appeal of the sentence by the DPP and document the final verdict and the behind the scenes emotional reactions of Natasha and her family. 

With raw testimony, verité-style filming, and a focus on advocacy, NATASHA is both a very personal journey of a young Limerick woman and a call for structural justice reform.