The number of rape court-cases in Ireland has increased by nearly 80% in recent years.

Noeline Blackwell, CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, has welcomed a review of treatment for sexual assault victims by the Department of Health.

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

The State’s forensic science laboratory is seeing a “continuous upward trend” of sexual assault cases, with a 30% rise so far this year.

In a victim impact statement the victim, now an adult, said that the abuse left her feeling disgusted with her body. She said she was aged only eight when she tried to kill herself.

There was a time when securing a former county GAA player or other sports personality was a major coup for any political party.

“It must be part of a broader understanding to colleges that such behaviour is not acceptable."

Rape Crisis Midwest has said the number of calls it receives year-on-year has steadily increased.

Threesomes involving Premier league footballers have been tabloid fodder for years. But a new book looks at how the macho, cossetted professional sports environment has created a horrific world where rape is a form of male bonding, writes Richard Fitzpatrick

Paedophiles who attempt to groom children online or by text will be jailed for 14 years after just one message even if they never physically meet their victim under plans to tackle dangerous gaps in Ireland’s child protection laws.

The Government is facing mounting pressure to create new mechanisms to provide for consistent sentencing in rape cases, as anger grows over the suspended term handed down to a man who raped his girlfriend while she slept.

The new Policing Authority must have the power to investigate complaints from victims of crime as the Garda Ombudsman is “not fit for purpose”, an alliance of victims’ groups has said.

A groundbreaking sex abuse and violence study in 2002 put the reality of the prevalence of sexual violence centre stage but we need an update says Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop.         

Hospital experts will be able to take and retain forensic evidence of rape with the consent of a victim who is not yet ready or willing to report the attack to gardaí.

The biggest rape crisis centre in the country had more than 100 victims of past rape and childhood sexual abuse on a waiting list to receive therapy at the end of 2014.

Two high-profile organisations that support victims of sexual violence have condemned Amnesty International for voting in favour of decriminalising prostitution, and one has cancelled its membership of the human rights body.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been accused of staying "silent" on the IBRC deals controversy, Gardaí have launched a murder investigation after a 25-year-old man died in west Dublin, a 58-year-old Irish nun visiting Rome was trapped in an elevator for three days and John Delaney is urged to take a voluntary 50% pay cut. Here’s this evening’s irishexaminer.com catch-up.

A document from Tusla, outlining how social workers should respond to allegations of child abuse and neglect, opens the way for an alleged abuser to cross-examine his or her victim.

A campaign to get men to pop the question is being launched as rape crisis groups work to clear up any doubts about the importance of sexual consent.