State has job to do and Tusla is not the answer

Cliona Saidlear says the State has a responsibility to protect citizens from and care for victims of sexual violence. It handed that role to Tusla, which has cut all funding to rape crisis centres.

SEXUAL violence is highly prevalent across Ireland. One in five girls and one in six boys experience contact sexual abuse and one in 10 women are raped.

Given its systemic and gendered nature, sexual violence is recognised as a life-limiting discrimination under which all women suffer. In short, sexual violence is one of the most critical issues a just society must address. No government can ignore or neglect this issue as its pervasiveness and the seriousness of its negative impacts makes the social contract precarious.