Men aged 17-25 suffer most assaults

YOUNG men between the ages of 17-25 are most likely to be assaulted, according to new figures from Victim Support.

Of 574 male assault victims referred to the support group last year, 200 were in this age group; 139 were aged 26-35 and 29 were under 16. The figures show a sharp increase in the number of people seeking help as a result of personal crime. Assault, robbery, theft and workplace crime almost tripled from 13% in 2001 to 35% in 2002.

However, families of murder victims seeking help are placing the greatest strain on the organisation’s resources, which suffered a 5% cut in Government funding this year.

With murder referrals up from 84 in 2001 to 177 in 2002, chief executive officer Lillian McGovern said the support group was under severe pressure.

“Murder referrals place an enormous demand on services because the support is more intensive, it lasts longer and court support is greater. Because of the level and seriousness of these referrals, we need more money. It is not good when you are trying to develop services on a reduced budget.” Last year, the organisation got just over 1.2 million in funding, 5% more than this year.

Despite the growing seriousness of crimes referred to Victim Support the organisation yesterday signed a partnership deal with the garda to increase awareness of the services it offers.

The deal comes in the wake of An Garda Síochána Public Attitude Survey 2002 which found that 94% of respondents, who were victims of crime, said they did not receive information on Victim Support. Every garda has a business card, given to every victim of crime. The card contains the officer’s name, contact details and information on Victim Support.

Ms McGovern said the partnership agreement confirmed the garda commitment to developing best practice in notification procedures, information, interpretation and translation services.

Referrals to the organisation had dropped from 7,714 in 1999 to 4,861 last year.

Chief Superintendent Pat Cregg, head of community relations, said the drop was in part due to difficulty with referrals under the Data Protection Act and to the garda computer system, PULSE, which is still being refined.

He said referrals would improve under the new deal which will also involve letters from superintendents to victims of crime informing them about Victim Support.