Centre deals with surge in child sex abuse counselling

MORE than half of people seeking counselling from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) last year experienced childhood sexual abuse.

At 52.35%, the proportion of those seeking therapy represents an increase of 4.63 percentage points compared to 2009 and reflects the impact of the Ryan and Murphy reports, which exposed how the Catholic Church dealt with child abuse.

The DRCC’s national 24-helpline (1800 778888) received 11,618 calls last year and 3,382 were from people calling the centre for the first time.