Update 6.46pm: The family of a young student who was tied up and repeatedly raped throughout the night have arrived in Dublin to care for her, it has been reported.

Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan has brushed off remarks by the chair of the Policing Authority that there were concerns over her ability to focus on her job while dealing with the whistleblower tribunal.

The lack of dedicated sexual assault treatment units for children is adding “immensely” to the trauma of families trying to deal with child sex abuse, writes Cormac O'Keeffe.

At least one in five women will experience domestic or sexual abuse, according to the National Womens' Council.

7% of Irish people think sex without consent is acceptable, if a person is out walking alone at night.

A legal battle centred on sex abuse ended in a victory for the Holy See, writes John Breslin in Chicago

First-time callers to a rape crisis helpline increased by almost 20% last year.

Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald said the seven child protection reports were “horrific” and “shocking”, with child protection being ignored in some instances up until last year.

Pic 1: Ken Doherty and Lorraine Keane at the Virgin Atlantic International Charity Lunch in aid of the Rape Crisis Centre at the Westin Hotel, Dublin.

Lenient sentences are putting victims off reporting sex crimes and are sending out the wrong messages, the Rape Crisis Network has warned.

The judiciary do not operate in a vacuum. Any judge whose habitual conduct shocks the public will have a detrimental effect on justice, writes Dan Buckley

A judge who controversially jailed a businessman for six years for a garlic import scam has let a sex attacker walk free from court.

A FRIEND of mine once said to me “surely it’s for the makers of pornography to prove it’s harmless than for others to prove how harmful it is”.

Fresh controversy surrounds the case of sex offender Anthony Lyons after it emerged his six-year sentence can only be reactivated if he reoffends within two years of his release, rather than during the full six-year period.

Rape crisis groups have hit out at the sentence in the Anthony Lyons case, describing it as very lenient.

BARNARDOS, the children’s charity, has had to close some of its waiting lists to new referrals until after Christmas because of pressure on services.

A RAPE crisis charity has issued a set of tips which they hope can help prevent the upsurge of sexual assaults linked to better weather and outdoor events.

A SURGE of 45% in first-time callers to rape crisis support services last year was triggered by the release of two damning abuse reports.

Were it not for their dedication and commitment to children, matched only by the anger and frustration of the voluntary organisations at the coalface of child protection in Ireland, the Ryan report might well be consigned to a convenient shelf where it would quietly gather dust.

FUNDING which was to be made available to counselling services for victims of sexual abuse in the aftermath of the Ryan Report has still not been allocated to support groups one year on from the damning report, it has emerged.