Society should be shouting from the rooftops and insisting more be done to stop the escalation of rape attacks, according to the head of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.

THE State is inflicting “mental torture” on rape victims due to widespread delays in bringing cases to court, support groups have warned.

More than one woman is raped in Dublin every day, new figures revealed today.

There are no plans to increase the number of sexual assault treatment units across the country, Health Minister, Simon Harris has said.

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has expressed shock, but not surprise, that more than one in five Irish people think having sex without consent is acceptable in certain situations.

THREE out of five reported cases of child sex abuse are perpetrated by a male relative, while a further quarter are carried out by a person known to the victim, apart from a direct family member, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) said yesterday.

RAPE, serious sex offences and gun crime have jumped in the first half of this year, official statistics show.

The number of rapes declined in 2007 but campaigners say less victims are coming forward for help.

One of six women who became pregnant after being raped last year had an abortion, statistics released by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre show.

A judge has ordered Dublin football star Diarmuid Connolly to spend 80 hours teaching GAA to children following an unprovoked attack on a man in a pub.

More than half of all rape victims are preyed on by a stranger or someone they just met on a night out, it was revealed today.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said that the level of sexual violence in Ireland remains "disturbing".

THE huge burden faced by relatives of murder victims could be eased greatly if radical proposals for the overhaul of the criminal courts system are introduced, a leading pressure group claimed last night.

A retired High Court judge has claimed victims of crime sometimes use victim impact statements to try to influence a judge ahead of sentencing.

FOUR out of 10 people agree with the controversial view that women who drink or take drugs are partly or completely at fault if they are raped.

Michael Brennan

Two thirds of convicted sex offenders due to be released from prison this year have not engaged with prison psychologists, which could have helped lower the risk of reoffending.

While the philosophy expounded by a senior judge that offenders should pay victims of rape and other crimes compensation would be generally endorsed, it is a concept basically defective in regard to rape.

Almost 1,000 people were treated in Ireland's sexual-assault treatment units last year.