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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

RAPE and sexual assault offences are on the rise but Ireland has the highest number of criminal cases collapsing before they reach the courts, it emerged yesterday.

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.

JUST 95 out of 335 people who sought counselling at the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) reported the crime to gardaí.