Pandemic sees rise in sexual violence survivors ringing crisis helplines

The rape crisis centres believe the stay-at-home measures during the Covid lockdowns lead to the increase in the time spent on calls.

There was a 22% increase in contacts made to a sexual violence helpline and a 71% increase in the time spent on the calls in 2020 when compared to the previous year, the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland (RCNI) has said.

The support service for survivors of sexual assault and violence found that demand continued to increase during the pandemic.

In its annual statistics report, published on Thursday, the service said that every month of 2020 saw an increase in the number of appointments offered by rape crisis centres when compared to 2019.

These appointments were fulfilled in person, over the phone, and by video calls as the centres moved to remote working as soon as lockdown measures came into force.

There were 15,194 appointments for counselling and support and 13,068 helpline contacts during the year. The centres also saw 1,241 people taking up counselling and support and 136 people availing of accompaniment services during that time.

Where previously 77% of voice calls were under six minutes, many are now much longer with 61% of calls now lasting between 0-5 minutes, 18% lasting between 6-14 minutes, 11% being 15-34 minutes in length, and 10% of calls lasting between 35 and 135 minutes in length.

The rape crisis centres outline a number of reasons as to why they think phone call length increased, including the stay-at-home measures resulting in the erosion or removal of survivors’ coping strategies in dealing with pre-existing trauma, and the increasing need for mental health resilience as a result of the public health guidelines.

Sexual violence is a gendered crime, predominantly perpetrated by boys and men against girls and women, according to the report. Some 91% of survivors who contacted centres in 2020 were women and girls, and 9% were men and boys.

Vulnerability to sexual violence is greatest for both girls and boys when they are in childhood, standing at 45% and 74% respectively. However, girls become increasingly vulnerable to more extreme forms of sexual violence as they age.

This is evident from when girls enter their teens where they are more commonly disclosing rape as the dominant form of sexual violence perpetrated against them, the RCNI stated.

Around 7% of survivors attending crisis centres for counselling and support in 2020 had a disability of some kind, 5% were people seeking international protection and 4% identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual.

Elaine Mears, RCNI national data coordinator, said the data indicates that regional helplines “became a lifeline” for many survivors during the pandemic.

“Furthermore, the intensity and length of the calls indicate that, rather than seeking information and referrals, the helplines are being used to access counselling by people carrying a high level of trauma,” she said.

Ms Mears said the centres have seen increases in demand year on year.

“In the last 10 years we have seen a 100% increase in contacts to helplines, a 63% increase in appointments provided by RCCs, and a 30% increase in the number of survivors and supporters attending RCCs,” she added.

“These figures indicate that when seeking help people want their first point of contact to be local and that regional services provide an indispensable and integral service to their communities.”