Sexual violence - Overhaul of system is long overdue
This follows a series of Irish Examiner reports on the failure of Government policies on sex-related crime.
As a direct result of its refusal to adequately finance groups working at the coal face of this grave social issue, three of the country’s four rape treatment units are now under threat. Only the Cork centre, which receives official funding, is secure.
Because of the proliferation of Government departments with responsibility, in one degree or another, for dealing with rape and related incidents, considerable confusion surrounds the State’s approach to this vexed issue. As the system is now operating, responsibility is spread across six departments - Justice, Health, Education, Environment, Social Affairs and Community Affairs. That’s a recipe for chaos.
Further illustrating the perceived ambivalence of officialdom towards sexual crime, rape crisis centres around the country are run on a shoestring due to the lack of realistic aid for the voluntary groups struggling to cope with the fallout of rape and other sex-related crimes.
With only four treatment units in the country, many assaults go unreported as victims are reluctant to travel long distances for medical treatment and garda assessment.
The fact that a Galway victim has to travel either to Donegal or Cork, highlights the compelling need for more units to be set up.
In view of this highly unsatisfactory situation, the Tánaiste can be assured of a positive response to indications that she is in favour of extending funding to the threatened sexual assault treatment units in Letterkenny, Dublin and Waterford.
However, this note of welcome will be tinged by scepticism, especially since the urgency of providing realistic financial aid for such vital work was graphically underlined last year in a report commissioned by Government itself.
But despite the persuasive arguments outlined in that document, the calls for extra funding were ignored in Budget 2006 by Finance Minister Brian Cowen.
The most up-to-date statistics show that 45,000 calls relating to sexual incidents were made to emergency helplines in 2004.
More recent figures show that last year 75 people were charged with rape and sexual assault offences.
Reflecting the serious nature of this heinous offence - which is regarded as next only to murder in the catalogue of serious crime - the majority of jail sentences handed down by the courts ran to more than five years.
However, 12 people were imprisoned from between seven to 12 years, and one received a prison sentence of more than 20 years.
The failure of the political system to square up to society’s growing problem of sex-related crime in a more compassionate and robust manner, possibly reflects the outrageous view held by many people who believe that when a woman has been raped, it’s her fault.
Hopefully, the formation of the Health Service Executive (HSE) will create an opportunity to make good the failings of the present system.
A more rational approach is needed towards the financial, criminal, educational and social aspects of this problem.
Until now, the health aspects of rape and sexual assault were handled by 11 different health boards.
Because of the disparate nature and funding of the various boards, the response across the country has been extremely uneven, varying from one region to the next.
Ideally, the HSE, which provides the bulk of State funding, should, as a matter of urgency, assume overall responsibility for streamlining how Ireland deals with the ever growing crisis of rape and sexual assault.
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