Noreen Winchester is a 20 years old Irish woman serving a seven year sentence in Armagh Women's Prison in Northern Ireland for killing her father. Ms Winchester had been subjected to sexual assaults by her father since her mother's death when she was 13. The oldest of eight children, Noreen was born on 19 November 1956. Her father also raped her younger sisters and threatened to kill her and her four sisters and three brothers if she told anyone about it.
One evening in the spring of 1976 after being raped again by her drunken father, Noreen and one of her sisters drove a knife into the father's neck killing him instantly in a desperate attempt to end their nightmare. Terrified at what they had done, they then dragged the body, with the help of one of their brothers, to a nearby trench, hoping it would appear to be a sectarian assassination. But the police soon found out what had happened and Noreen was charged with murder/manslaughter.
At her trial early this year, she was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years imprisonment. On that occasion the judge said that "she had been a willing partner for years" and " she had had plenty of occasion to tell the police about the incest". This shows a complete lack of understanding of the pressures of the family, backed up by threats, which make it impossible for a young girl to even contemplate exposing her father in the case of incestuous rape.
Moreover, the trial judge instructed reporters to give only the bare details of the case in the press. This is a more restrictive ruling than normal and means that reporters are unwilling to go into the issue too deeply for fear of jeopardizing their press privileges.
During the last few years in the USA, rape victims who have retaliated against their attackers have been harshly sentenced at their trials, have been acquitted by higher courts following publicity campaigns by feminists. In the case of Noreen Winchester a committee has been set up to publicize her case and to petition for her release. This is based in the Netherlands and is operating internationally. International support and solidarity is requested for Noreen by:
- writing to Home Secretary Rees, Home Office, London SWl, England and demand that she be pardoned and freed.
- sending a card of support to Noreen Ann Winchester, Al Wing, Armagh Prison, Armagh, Northern Ireland.
- publicizing her case in newspapers, women's centers, magazines etc.
Further information may be obtained from the Noreen Winchester Committee, Gerolaan 52, Zeist, the Netherlands.