Two high-profile organisations that support victims of sexual violence have condemned Amnesty International for voting in favour of decriminalising prostitution, and one has cancelled its membership of the human rights body.

The Government is facing mounting pressure to create new mechanisms to provide for consistent sentencing in rape cases, as anger grows over the suspended term handed down to a man who raped his girlfriend while she slept.

National helpline agencies have joined forces to break the silence on sexual violence in relationships.

Several children’s groups have today criticised aspects of new legislation making the reporting of child abuse mandatory for named professions.

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has said it is hopeful judges and legal professionals will soon take part in education programmes to help them better understand the consequences of sexual crimes.

Christmas time can trigger a rise in the frequency and severity of abuse against women and children.

Thousands of attempts to access pornographic websites by Leinster House officials and visitors underlines a wider problem with porn and attitudes to women in Irish society.

Mr Justice Paul Carney’s apology to Fiona Doyle was likely to be genuine, reports Caroline O’Doherty

Supporters of rape victim Fiona Doyle are planning a solidarity rally outside Leinster House this weekend as anger over the handling of her case grows.

WHEN Lorraine Mulvey told the media last month how she had been abused by her father for 12 years, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre was inundated with phone calls.

ABUSE survivors’ groups have hailed the progress made by Catholic dioceses in opening up to allow audits investigate their child protection practices.

A YOUNG woman who says she was raped at the age of 14 has spoken out against a justice system which she feels utterly let her down after her attacker walked free.

Dozens of women demonstrated outside the Dáil over the so-called “rape tape” scandal in which garda officers joked about raping two female protesters.

RAPE crisis groups have called on people upset by the release of Larry Murphy to get help if they need it.

THE number of rape cases making it to court dropped by over a third last year because a growing number of victims are intimidated by the legal process, say rape crisis experts.

FUNDING which was to be made available to counselling services for victims of sexual abuse in the aftermath of the Ryan Report has still not been allocated to support groups one year on from the damning report, it has emerged.

JUSTICE is not being done for women in cases where low sentences are being handed down to convicted sex abusers, the head of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has warned.

MORE than 2,531 people rang the national helpline for rape and sexual abuse during December and January last year – a 20% increase on the previous year, the Head of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has said.

MORE THAN 4,000 disillusioned Catholics have used an Irish website to resign from the Church.

AGENCIES providing support services for victims of abuse are dealing with a new wave of anguish caused by revelations thrown up by the latest clerical abuse probe.

THE Director of Public Prosecutions should explain why he did not pursue a case against a man who allegedly raped and imprisoned his stepdaughter over a 10-year period, it has been claimed.

More than half of all rape victims are preyed on by a stranger or someone they just met on a night out, it was revealed today.

THE wall of officialdom refused to crumble, right up to the very end.

CAMPAIGNERS for victims of sex crime have pleaded with the Government not to back down on the promise of a children’s rights referendum after hints by Children’s Minister Barry Andrews it is to be abandoned in favour of laws that would not necessitate a public vote.

A man was arrested today in connection with the alleged rape of a young woman at the Oxegen music festival.

A VICTIM of Cork rapist Trevor Casey has told how her psychological torment was compounded by the spectre of political involvement in his sentencing.

FOUR out of 10 people agree with the controversial view that women who drink or take drugs are partly or completely at fault if they are raped.

TODAY we publish a deeply disturbing survey on rape and rape victims that should make us all stop and think about how we judge women, their attackers and our society’s attitude towards what provokes sexual crimes.

THE two Saturdays during Christmas each saw eight victims of sexual assault treated at the specialist unit in the Rotunda Hospital — including one person who had to make a 10-hour return trip from Donegal.

Miriam Duffy from the Limerick Rape Crisis Centre (LRCC) borrows this quote to show there is no ambiguity on its stance towards pornography.

RAPE victims being taken to sexual assault treatment units in Dublin, Cork and Donegal are finding there is no doctor available to examine them when they arrive.

HUNDREDS of protesters are expected to gather outside the Dáil today as public outrage intensifies over the child rape debacle.