Rape cases - A shameful attitude

IT would be nice to imagine that the instance of rape has fallen by something approaching half – 37% – but it is very hard to accept that it has.

Yet there has been a 37% fall in the number of rape cases reaching our courts. The Courts Service Annual Report also recorded that there were fewer minor sexual offences dealt with at District Court level.

A number of high profile cases have shown our procedures up in a very poor light. Women who say they have been raped are forced to endure a long, slow and sometimes difficult process. Though some progress has been made much more needs to be done.

In some instances women are subject to very public and real hostility. The infamous Kerry case was one of the worst examples of this unacceptable behaviour.

We can’t pretend that this problem does not exist and it has little enough to do with resources or money.

It reflects an attitude, a mind set shaped in different times and shames us all.