Report: 12% of sex assault victims 'unsure of attack'

More than one in eight patients seen at one of the country's largest sex assault treatment units last year had so much alcohol consumed, they were unsure if they had been attacked.

That is the latest from the annual report of the Sexual Assault Unit in Dublin's Rotunda Hospital.

One of six such units in the country, the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit at Rotunda Hospital last year treated 341 men and women.

But 41 patients said they could not be sure if they had been assaulted, because they had drunk so much alcohol.

The unit's annual report shows 68.9% had consumed alcohol in the 12 hours prior to the assault and over half of these had consumed more than four units.

The highest number of assaults was among women aged 18-25.

Most patients came to the unit within seven days of being sexually assaulted

In most cases the victims were attacked by one person and in 128 cases the assailant was a stranger.

In another 22 cases the attacker was a partner or ex-partner. A family member was implicated in 13 assaults.