THREE out of five reported cases of child sex abuse are perpetrated by a male relative, while a further quarter are carried out by a person known to the victim, apart from a direct family member, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) said yesterday.

THERE has been a steady drop in the number of rape cases getting to court in the past five years.

IRRESPECTIVE of age or sex, the decision arrived at by Mr Justice Paul Carney this week in the case of a young man who pleaded guilty to the rape of a much older man is perplexing in the extreme.

RAPE — no matter if the victim is male or female — is a most heinous crime.

A quarter of all sexual crimes against women are committed by the victim’s partners or ex-partners.

SEXUAL assaults, shootings and theft against the person cases have jumped in the third quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2002, new statistics released yesterday show.

RAPISTS in Galway have a greater chance of getting away with the crime because victims have to travel 300 miles to be forensically examined, it was claimed yesterday.

Television documentaries exposing sexual abuse by clergy led to a high number of victims coming forward to report rape in Ireland, figures showed today.

Calls to Dublin's Rape Crisis Centre have increased by 18%, annual statistics have revealed.

ALMOST 300 serious crimes were committed every day last year — 55 more daily than in 2001.