The Board of Directors and staff of One in Four are delighted to announce that their CEO, Maeve Lewis, is the recipient of the University of Limerick 2019 Alumni Award for Outstanding Contribution to Society.

The University cites Maeve's work in One in Four to end the trauma of childhood sexual abuse and in creating a cultural shift in Irish society on attitudes and perceptions to sexual abuse that will make Ireland a safer place for children. The University also acknowledges Maeve's international work in post conflict situations and her contribution to the International Criminal Court as an expert witness in sexual trauma.

We are delighted that Maeve's commitment and passion is being recognised today

Maeve  works relentlessly to shine a light on the ubiquitous but hidden problem of child sexual abuse in Ireland. She engages with policy makers at all levels to ensure that legislation and statutory processes reflect the needs of survivors of child sexual abuse, and has been influential in effecting positive changes.  She regularly takes part in media discussions to raise public awareness of the issue.

A proud Tipperary woman, Maeve Lewis grew up outside Nenagh. Following her graduation with a Bachelor of Arts in European Studies from the University of Limerick (then NIHE) in 1979, she completed a H. Dip. Ed in Trinity College Dublin and worked for several years as a teacher. Maeve subsequently completed a BA (Hons) in Psychology in UCD and trained as a psychotherapist.  She went on to work in a number of organisations throughout her career, including the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, specialising in sexual trauma.

Maeve has also extensive experience overseas, developing and delivering culturally appropriate trauma counsellor training courses in post-conflict situations in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.  The counsellors she trained provide support to some of the poorest and most vulnerable women and men on earth, all of whom are severely traumatised through having suffered unimaginable crimes. In 2015, she appeared before the International Criminal Court as an expert witness in sexual violence. This work involved Maeve giving evidence to hearings of the Court on the basis of testimonies she gathered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2015. Kevin Kelly, Irish Ambassador to the Netherlands added “Maeve is one of the few Irish experts to be recognised by the Court in this way. Such was the quality of Maeve’s engagement in the court hearings that she has been invited back on a number of occasions by the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC to give training courses to legal staff. “