Hundreds of immigrants seek counselling

INCREASING numbers of refugees and migrants who have suffered sexual violence in their home countries are providing fresh challenges for rape crisis services.

Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) received hundreds of calls last year from non-nationals and asylum seekers who had been raped in their country of origin or in some cases, since arriving in Ireland.

Workers at the centre currently provide a service in English and French but a lack of funding prevents them from helping people who speak other languages.

Clinical director Angela McCarthy said 330 calls (3%) to the helpline were by non-nationals and 100 were from asylum seekers.

“Unfortunately, rape still continues to be used as a weapon of war as highlighted recently in Darfur, with reports of widespread and systematic rape.

“In the past, the DRCC responded to reports of mass rape by sending therapists to the former Yugoslavia.

“Currently, we face the challenge of providing counselling to many asylum-seekers who are reporting rape, torture and imprisonment in their countries of origin.

“It is part of our current and future challenge as a Rape Crisis Centre to provide a culturally appropriate service for the increasing numbers of non-nationals, including migrant workers, refugees and asylum-seekers who seek help for their experiences of sexual violence.”

Ms McCarthy was speaking at the 25th anniversary conference of the DRCC, which was concentrating on rape as a weapon of war.

The meeting discussed the challenges facing the centre in a multi-cultural society.

Irene Bergin, chief executive of the DRCC, said: “Currently we recognise the need for interpreters, and training for all staff in the area of cultural diversity, if we are to meet the needs of our emerging communities.”

The number of people contacting the centre’s helpline has risen from 76 in 1979 to 14,412 in 2004.