Destiny Ayo Vaughan: “I want to give survivors of sexual violence the chance to heal on their own terms”

2025’s eir VIP Power of Women Awards may have come and gone, but we’re still celebrating Ireland’s top female led businesses!

Here, we’re catching up with eir Tech & Innovation winner Destiny Ayo Vaughan of Mind The Gap Ireland, to discuss making a difference, the importance of connection, and helping survivors tell their stories.

Big congratulations on winning the Tech & Innovation Award at the eir VIP Power of Women Awards 2025. How important do you feel recognition like this is for Irish female entrepreneurs and startups?  

Honestly, thank you. I was completely shocked. I didn’t think Mind the Gap Ireland (MTGI) was on anyone’s radar like that, so to win was just overwhelming in the best way.

MTGI started in my bedroom in 2019 during my first year of university. It was just me, an Instagram page and an idea. Over the years, there were times I really questioned myself. Was MTGI growing fast enough? Was it making a difference in people’s lives? Those doubts creep in more than people realise. So, winning this award meant more to me than I can probably put into words; it was like a sign to keep going.

I think so many female founders go under the radar. We’re out here working incredibly hard, and it can genuinely feel like nobody sees it. What I love about the eir VIP Publishing Power of Women Awards is that it shines a light on women who are out there doing the work and reminds us (and everyone watching) that what we’re building matters. I’m grateful to eir and VIP Publishing for creating this platform, as it’s that kind of recognition that gives you fuel to keep going when things get hard.

Every year, the eir VIP Publishing Power of Women community grows even bigger. How have the relationships you’ve developed within this space shaped your work? 

The connections I made at that event have genuinely stayed with me. Being a female founder can be lonely at times, more than people probably realise, so having a community of women who just get it, who are in the same boat as you, is incredibly reassuring.

After the Awards, I had a lot of people reach out to me offering guidance, sharing advice, even sending me some of their products to try. It genuinely made my day. There is something so special about watching women show up for each other like that.  I wish I had this community of women early on; I was quiet when I founded MTGI, I was only 19 when I started thinking about the idea and 20 when I launched it. There weren’t many people my age around me who were founders. In fact, I was the only person my age I knew who was starting something like this – something that deals with such a serious issue as sexual violence. I was out there trying to build a community for others, but I didn’t really have one for myself, and that was quite hard at times.

What the eir VIP Publishing Power of Women Awards gave me was access, being in a room with incredibly well-connected, inspiring women that, honestly, I probably never would have crossed paths with otherwise. Being able to learn from them, ask questions and seek advice on building MTGI has been invaluable. Those kinds of relationships don’t just shape your work, they shape you as a founder.

You’re passionate about the power of storytelling. What have been the most rewarding outcomes from giving survivors a safe space to share their stories? 

Storytelling is everything to me. There is something incredibly powerful about giving someone the space to tell their story in their own way, without fear of being judged or dismissed. That is at the heart of everything MTGI does.

The most rewarding moments for me have been when people have reached out to tell us that what happened to them, and that sharing with MTGI, was the first time they had ever spoken about it. That it gave them the courage to finally seek help. When I hear that, it stops me in my tracks every single time. It takes me straight back to why I started MTGI this in the first place, to give survivors of sexual violence the chance to heal on their own terms.

There are many people who experience sexual violence never seek help. They carry it silently for years, sometimes their whole lives. And I understand why. Reaching out is one of the hardest things a person can do. When MTGI becomes the place that helps people build the confidence to take that step, that will always mean more to me than any metric or milestone ever could.

Winning this award has given us a bigger platform and that excites me, because more exposure means we can reach more people who need us. And that is what it is all about.

How important is reliable connectivity in ensuring that survivors can access support when they need it most? 

Connectivity is very important. More than people realise, especially when it comes to supporting survivors. When someone finally finds the courage to reach out for help, that moment is fragile. They need to know that support is there and accessible when they need it most.

We live in a generation where almost everything happens online. Many organisations operate through chat lines, calls and digital services, and MTGI is no different. Everything we do is online, and without a reliable connection, we simply could not do the work we do or respond to people as quickly as they need us to.

A huge part of what we do is connecting survivors with the charities and services that can help them, whether that is therapy, shelter or social workers. And timing matters enormously. If we take too long to make that connection, people can change their minds. Fear creeps back in. That courage they built up to reach out in the first place can disappear just as quickly, and they go back to suffering in silence. We cannot let that happen.

That is why reliable broadband and mobile connection is not just a technical requirement for us, it is part of how we show up for people in their most vulnerable moments. Thanks to the support of eir, we stay connected when it matters most, so when someone is ready to take that first step, we are ready too.

From your perspective, what progress has been made in how Ireland approaches conversations about sexual violence and where is the most work still needed? 

Ireland has made real progress, and I want to acknowledge that. Organisations like Women’s Aid have been incredibly vocal and powerful in their fight for women experiencing domestic violence. We are seeing more coverage on social media, more women being given platforms to speak openly about sexual violence, and more funding in this space than ever before. That matters.

But I do think the conversation needs to get more honest, because here is the uncomfortable truth: Every year, cases of sexual violence increase. They have never declined. We have more funding, more charities, more women speaking up, and yet the figures keep going up. MTGI has been trying to tackle this since 2019.

Over the past few years, we have collected over 10,000 stories, and what that data has shown is really significant. The majority of people who experienced sexual violence were under the age of 16. Of those 10,000 stories, 80% pointed to the home and school as the highest places where abuse occurred, with family members, child on child abuse, and friends being the most common. That tells us something we cannot ignore.

We have a gap in our education system. It is simply not tailored to protect children, to teach them about safety, or to help them recognise when something is wrong. That needs to change, and it needs to change urgently.

MTGI is currently transitioning from being an anonymous story platform to becoming a child protection agency, tackling child sexual abuse, because that is where the data is pointing us.

Working in this space can no doubt be emotionally demanding. How do you look after your own well-being while continuing to show up for others? 

This is something I have had to learn the hard way, honestly. For a long time, I thought I could do it all and carry everything, but I just couldn’t.

What a lot of people don’t know is that I have personally read every single story that has ever been submitted to MTGI, and I was the one to individually reach out to each person to help connect them with the support they needed. And while that work is so meaningful to me, mentally it took a huge toll. Reading those stories, sitting with that pain day after day, it stays with you.

I had to learn to set boundaries, and that was not easy. You cannot force someone to seek help if they are not ready and learning to make peace with that took time. I also had to be intentional about building a life outside of MTGI. Taking up hobbies, being present with my friends, giving myself permission to just switch off and be a normal young woman, that has been so important.

I also go to therapy myself, and I am very open about that. When I feel overwhelmed, it helps me make sense of what I am feeling and process everything I carry in this role. Having that space, and someone in my corner who supports me, makes a real difference.

I think if you want to show up for others in a meaningful way, you must show up for yourself first. That is something I really believe now.

Looking ahead, what’s next for you in your advocacy journey?

There is so much I want to achieve and honestly, I feel like I am just getting started.

The biggest focus for me right now is growing MTGI into a fully recognised organisation that tackles sexual abuse against children through education. I want to create Ireland’s leading educational programme in this space, something that gets into schools, reaches young people early and actually fills the gap that I know exists. I will also be bringing on a co-founder for MTGI, which is a really exciting step in taking the organisation to the next level.

On a personal level, I am currently working as a keynote speaker with the London Speakers Bureau, and I am really hoping to expand that, doing more speaking events across Ireland and internationally. Sharing this message on bigger stages is something I feel really called to do.

I am also applying for my doctorate this year to become a clinical psychologist. That has been a dream of mine for a long time, and I know it will make me a stronger advocate, particularly when it comes to mental health. One day I would love for MTGI to offer therapy sessions directly to survivors and having that clinical background will be so important for that.

And beyond that, I really do hope to take this work to a global stage. Advocating at the United Nations and the European Parliament, fighting for children who are victims of trafficking and child marriage, that is the vision. I want MTGI’s work to have an impact far beyond our borders, because these issues do not stop at any one country’s door.

You can find out more about Mind The Gap Ireland here.