Rape helpline calls up to 12,000

CALLS to the country’s only 24-hour rape crisis helpline increased by almost half in the past two years, leaving services for victims of sexual violence struggling to keep up with demand.

Close to 12,000 calls were received last year by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) helpline which services the whole country, an 18% increase on 2001 and 45% more than in 2000.

Almost 4,000 callers, an average of 11 a day, were contacting the service for the first time and almost half of all callers reported sexual abuse they had kept secret since childhood.

At least 11 women who had suffered a recent rape became pregnant as a result and at least four opted for abortions, but not all rape-related pregnancies were documented as not all women disclosed full details.

The majority of assaults were carried out on women and girls by a male relative, husband, partner or boyfriend, but assaults by strangers accounted for 34% of cases, a 2% increase on 2001.

The increase in crisis line callers, revealed in the DRCC’s annual report, was attributed partly to television documentaries such as Suing The Pope, aired in April last year, and a Prime Time programme on clerical sexual abuse in the Dublin diocese last October, both months in which significant rises were recorded.

While the effect of the programmes in giving victims the courage to come forward was welcomed, DRCC chief executive Muireann Ó Briain said the sheer number of people seeking help was putting pressure on already stretched services.

“We have had a huge increase in services here. There are now 10 National Counselling Service centres for victims of childhood abuse and we have 18 rape crisis centres and, yet, we operate waiting lists for counselling services for those suffering the effects of childhood abuse.”

Pressure on resources would be even worse if the full extent of sexual abuses were reported, DRCC counsellor

Angela McCarthy warned, as the centre believes up to half a million people in the greater Dublin area alone have suffered some form of inappropriate sexual behaviour in their lifetime.

“Under-reporting is still a big problem. If somebody has their car stolen or is assaulted in a purely physical way, they could come to work and say that it happened, but if somebody has been raped, they still feel stymied talking about it. People hesitate because they’re not sure how they will be received.”

The voluntary organisation, which relies on fundraising and volunteers to keep going, said that it was also under pressure from a new source, refugees and asylum seekers, including unaccompanied minors, who had suffered rape and repeated rapes in their home countries.

“We can usually offer appointments very quickly in a crisis situation but when it’s someone from an African country or Eastern Europe and they don’t have English and we don’t have their language, our response is slower than we would like,” said Ms Ó Briain.

She said the centre was carrying out research which would produce a clearer picture of the scale of the problem and identify the resources needed to tackle it by the end of this year.

Ms Ó Briain also said that a new computer data base was being installed which would make next year’s annual statistics available much earlier in the year and would, for the first time, incorporate figures from all 18 centres countrywide.