A group of women have been marching in the streets of Dublin wearing nothing but underwear to demand rape trial reform in Ireland.

The protest follows a recent rape trial in Cork, during which a 17-year-old girl’s underwear was used against her as evidence in court.

During the trial, senior counsel Elizabeth O'Connell told the jury that they should consider the underwear that the teenage girl was wearing during the alleged rape.

"Does the evidence out-rule the possibility that she was attracted to the defendant and was open to meeting someone and being with someone?" she said, according to The Irish Examiner.

"You have to look at the way she was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front."

Noeline Blackwell, head of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, commented on the case, stating: "The reference to the girl's underwear and the assumption and inference that the jury was being invited to draw - that because she was dressed like that she was asking for sex - does not surprise us."

Many have condemned the way in which the rape trial was conducted, with critics accusing the barrister of victim blaming.

Stacie Ellen Murphy, Alanna Cassidy and Lena Seale marching in Dublin (PA)

Following the trial, 26-year-old campaigner Stacie Ellen Murphy launched a protest in an effort to reform the way in which rape trials are conducted by walking through the streets of Dublin in her underwear.

The Dubliner has vowed to continue doing so until she can get 50 more people to join her.

On Thursday 22 November, Murphy, Alanna Cassidy and Lena Seale braved the cold Dublin weather wearing underwear with the phrase “this is not consent” written on their skin.

Stacie Ellen Murphy has vowed to continue marching until she can get 50 more people to join her in her fight for rape trial reform (PA)

“I’m not going to be stopping until I get a change,” Murphy said, according to Press Association.

“Until it’s talked about in the Dail. Until I get to the Dail. Until changes are made.

“I’m not going to stop until I’ve got a crowd of 50 people walking toward me every single day doing this walk, until there’s a change in the judicial system about underwear being brought up in a case or court trial.”

On Monday 19 November Murphy headed to the courts of Dublin in her underwear.

As she stood on the steps outside, Murphy hugged a rape survivor whose attacker had just been sentenced to jail in court.

Over the weekend, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told RTÉ 1's This Week In Politics show that he had asked an "eminent person" to investigate the way in which evidence is assessed in court.

"Whether you are a man or a woman, if you are a victim of rape or sexual assault, you are never to blame for it," he said.

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"It doesn't matter what you wear, where you go, who you go with or whether you have taken alcohol or drugs - no one asks to be raped."

In response to the trial of alleged rape in Cork, women in Ireland have been posting photos of their underwear on social media with the hashtag "#ThisIsNotConsent".