Surge in sexual violence ‘disturbing’

An increase in sexual violence recorded by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre last year has been described as "disturbing" by its chief executive, Ellen O’Malley Dunlop.

“There was an increase of 672 calls from men and women in 2013 which related to adult sexual assault. This was a shocking increase of 21%, compared with 2012,” said Ms O’Malley Dunlop.

She was speaking at the launch yesterday of the DRCC’s 2013 annual report and statistics that showed 43% of calls related to adult rape — a 3% increase compared to 2012 figures.