McDowell urges review of supports for rape victims

Justice Minister Michael McDowell was tonight urged to launch a full review of the supports, procedures and facilities in place for rape victims.

Mr McDowell was urged to act after new figures showed a dramatic fall in the number of rape cases coming before the courts.

Labour Party Justice Spokesman Joe Costello said the huge fall in the number of prosecutions came at a time when more and more rapes are being reported to gardaí.

“The new figures show that the number of rape cases coming before the Central Criminal Court declined from 130 in 1999 to just 52 in 2003 and 37 in 2004,” he said.

“A total of 506 cases came before the courts in this period. Official Garda crime figures for 2004 are not yet available, but according to Garda reports for the period, a total of 1,776 cases of rape were reported in the period from 1999 to 2003.

“Between 1999 and 2003 there were an average of 355 cases reported to the gardai but the average number of cases coming before the courts in the same period was just 93.

“This would suggest that only about a quarter of reported rapes result in prosecutions and, of course, not all of these result in convictions,” he added.

Mr Costello said the high number of rape cases before the courts in 1999 may be partly accounted for by the significant backlog of cases at the time, which has now been substantially reduced.

But he said this did not explain the widening gap between the number of cases reported and those coming before the courts.

“Figures from the country’s Rape Crisis Centres also show an increase in the number of women seeking assistance during this period,” he said.

“What is of equal concern is that there is reliable research to suggest that many rapes and sexual assaults are not even reported to the gardai.

“In the light of these figures there is now a need to review the way in which we respond to rape victims.

“Rape victims must be able to believe that if they report the cases to the Gardai there will be a reasonable chance of the culprit being brought to justice and that their ordeal will not be intensified by the court process.”