Rape Crisis Centre concerned at violence accompanying rapes

Concern expressed at levels of violence accompanying rapes

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has expressed concern at increased levels of violence accompanying rapes and sexual assaults in Ireland.

The centre said today that its helpline received a total of almost 11,000 calls last year, almost one-fifth of them from people aged 17 and under.

It said almost 5,000 of these calls were from people who had been raped at some stage in the previous 12 months.

Elsewhere, the DRCC also said the proportion of calls relating to drug-assisted rape had increased from 0.5% in 2003 to 1.4% in 2003, while the proportion of cases reported to the Gardaí had fallen from 30% to 25% over the same period.