First-time callers to rape helpline increase by 20%

First-time callers to a rape crisis helpline increased by almost 20% last year.

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre’s (DRCC) annual report revealed just over 9,000 genuine calls were made to the 24-hour national helpline.

First-time callers accounted for 3,988 of the calls made, an increase of 18% compared to 2010. Figures showed 81% of callers to the helpline were females.

DRCC chief executive Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop said, despite cuts, there was always a trained person at the end of the line to listen.

“While there has been a huge increase in the demands on the service, there is no way we can continue if we have further cuts to our funding,” she warned.

Since 2008, the grant from the Health Service Executive to the centre has been cut yearly and fundraising has plummeted.

Ms O’Malley-Dunlop said one of the most disturbing stories from the 2011 annual report was the documented evidence of the high levels of additional types of violence experienced by adult victims of rape and, also, victims of childhood sexual abuse.

Of the 734 incidences of rape, sexual assault and childhood sexual abuse disclosed by victims in 2011, 29% included other types of violence.

DRCC 2011 statistics show:

n44% of calls related to adult rape, compared to 42% in 2010.

n52% concerned adult sexual violence, including rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and trafficking.

n48% of calls were about childhood sexual abuse, including ritual abuse and suspected abuse.

The report also disclosed 18 women became pregnant by rape with seven opting to keep the child. Four of the women had an abortion, three had their baby fostered, three miscarried and one had a stillborn birth.

Over the past year, 271 victims of rape and sexual assault were accompanied by DRCC trained volunteers to the sexual assault treatment unit at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin.

Of the 304 cases where the reporting status was known, just 30% — 91 cases — were reported to gardaí.

Just seven cases were tried, resulting in four convictions and one acquittal. The outcomes of two of the cases are unknown.

Recent or past rape accounted for nearly 70% of the 91 cases reported to the Garda, while childhood sexual abuse accounted for just over 30%.

Ms O’Malley-Dunlop said more cases needed to proceed to court and called on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to advise victims why a criminal case was not being taken.

The DRCC also warned hardcore pornography was addictive and having a damaging effect on people’s health and lives.

“The easy access to hardcore pornography further fuels attitudes of objectification of both men and women and leads to unimaginable dehumanisation of both the victims and the perpetrators themselves of these crimes,” said Ms O’Malley-Dunlop.

The DRCC has launched an awareness campaign to assure victims of sexual violence they are not alone.

* DRCC national 24-hour helpline 1800 7788 88.