Rape crisis - Treatment centres must be funded

GIVEN the shocking increase in the incidence of rape and sex attacks, it is unconscionable that the future of three of the country’s four sexual assault treatment units should be in doubt.

That bleak scenario is revealed in an unpublished report on behalf of the Government. It concludes that the centres at Letterkenny, Dublin and Waterford are in jeopardy because they do not receive Government funding.

The Cork unit is the only one funded by the State. Thanks to local TD and former Health Minister Micheál Martin, it alone can be confident of surviving.

Regrettably, such units do not exist nationwide. As a result, assaults go unreported because the victims are unwilling to travel long distances for medical treatment and garda assessment.

If the State is serious about addressing the grave social problems attached to rape and sexual assault, it must provide adequate funding to underpin the country’s four treatment centres.