Barriers to counselling have to go

THE growing level of violence accompanying the heinous crime of rape is extremely disturbing.

With sexual assault on the increase, it is particularly worrying that many of the victims are children. In Dublin alone, 2,000 teenagers under the age of 17 sought counselling last year.

It is hard to understand why the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre is constrained both legally and in terms of expertise from providing counselling for teenagers.