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THE DUBLIN RAPE Crisis Centre has said that Ireland urgently needs to change society’s behaviour towards rape and sexual abuse as it “still tolerates” it “with impunity”.
In its Annual Report for 2011, the DRCC revealed that it had seen an 18 per cent increase in the number of first-time callers to its national 24-hour helpline.
Describing the statistics as “shocking”, chairperson Dr Frances Gardiner said the group’s raising awareness campaign is “slowly but surely” helping to change the attitudes to rape and sexual abuse in Ireland.
“Changing attitudes will change behaviour,” she said.
During 2011, the helpline received 11,839 calls, over 9,000 of which were described as genuine counselling calls and not hoaxes, hang-ups or obscene contacts.
Of the almost 12,000 contacts, about one-third were from first time callers, while 4,371 were repeat contacts.
Other key figures about calls in the Annual Report showed that:
Last year, DRCC’s trained volunteers accompanied 271 victims of rape and sexual assault to the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in the Rotunda Hospital.
There were 734 incidents of rape, sexual assault and childhood sexual abuse disclosed by clients during 2011. Often, other types of violence – including threats to kill, intimidation and psychological abuse – were reported along with the main type of abuse.
The DRCC is not always clear if the abuse has been reported to Gardaí and in some cases the act may have taken place many years prior to the contact. The reporting status is known in 304 cases, of which just 30 per cent were notified to authorities.
Of the 91 cases reported to the Gardaí, seven cases were tried resulting in four convictions or guilty pleas and one acquittal. There were two cases where the outcome was unknown.
DRCC’s clients came from the city, the greater Dublin area and from 17 other counties. Altogether, 537 clients were seen for crisis counselling and psychotherapy. Of these, 12 per cent were men.
The report also revealed that there has been an increase of about 20 per cent in clients seeking therapy over childhood sexual abuse since 2003. The centre believes that the impact of various reports into child abuse in the Catholic Church and a change in public discourse has contributed to this increase.
“These crimes are now acknowledged and discussed openly, without shame or blame,” said CEO Ellen O’Malley Dunlop.
Dr Gardiner said that at this time, when the group expects calls to rise, it is important that funding is not cut.
“It is crucial that victims can be confident that professional help is available to them at a time of deep personal trauma,” she explained.
“We can see from the numbers of victims of rape and sexual abuse seeking the services of the DRCC in 2011 that we must ensure the continuation of the work of the DCC,” added O’Malley Dunlop.
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre can be contacted 24 hours a day on 1800 77 88 88.
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Firstly the reason that most cases do not make it past ‘just a phone call’ is victims feel they cannot go beyond this stage as comments above show society still has extremely warped views on rape.
Secondly people should be able to wear what they want in a free society, people should be able to control their sexual urges however rape is not about sexual urges and more about control.
Sickening comments above, very saddening.
I find myself agreeing with the sentiment of your comment but not the way you delivered it.
I think you will find most people in Irish society are completely disgusted by rape and consider them worthy of a special place in hell. So branding Irish society as warped based on a few anonymous internet comments is a bit short sighted. I think I can speak for myself and most of the people I associate with that if anyone told me they were raped, they would only receive support and sympathy.
Don’t get why you are bringing up the wear what you want issue again? It was a policeman that caused that fiasco last year, not a rapist. I am pretty sure a rapist doesn’t care what you are wearing. We all know of cases where a woman was raped while out for a walk or a run. I don’t get referring to sexual urges either, every normal human gets them. As you say rape is all about control and subjugating someone.
The comments above are disappointing but not sick, it’s more a case of not wanting to believe that this sort of stuff happens in what should be civilised society. It does prove a point though, that those who falsely claim rape should receive harsher and more off putting punishments. It creates a situation where genuine rape victims are under more scrutiny than they should be. I’d wager some would avoid telling anyone for the reason of people not believing them.
Just to clarify, Stephanie brings up the issue of clothes because a previous commenter did. His comment had to be removed as it went against our comments policy.
Cheers
S
@Sinead – Ah right, I was a bit confused why it was metioned, thanks for clearing it up. And my apologies to you then Stephanie!
@KingOlaf, can I just say that there is a huge lacking in mentality across society and here in Ireland a person just needs to look at the lack of reporting with regards to rape and sexual assaults. Also custodial sentences are often very lenient in most cases. There are so many rape myths out there that need to be dispelled and I think agencies like Rape Crisis Centres should do more in dispelling these myths.
Yes I get my delivery was not the most eloquent however as Sinead confirmed the second comment was indeed about how women dress (which is now thankfully deleted) however there are people who believe this to be a cause of rape.
@Stephanie – I wholeheartedly agree with you on the time in prison served for a rape. Any of the recent sentences for rapists I have read about in the news would be more appropriate for attempted sexual assault. It is a joke. There needs to be reform for this kind of thing. Rape is up there with murder and child molestation. Those who commit it deserve decades in prison.
As regards, how people view it in Ireland, unfortunately it is a gender related thing. I know rape is not a crime exclusively committed against a female, but in the majority of cases it is. I look at how my mother always was on my sisters case to have her mobile with her, not to walk home on her own ever, and how she would stay up until she came home from a night club. I never had any of that.
Similar things for my girlfriend…I can go for a run at any time I feel like, without consciously thinking about my safety. She always tries to go for a run before dark, or with a friend, or recently she’s been wanting to get a dog to go with for protection against the possibility of running into a weirdo in the woods near where we live. I know it sounds ridiculous needing protection in our society, but I wouldn’t say that she isn’t alone in her thinking.
As a bloke the thought of rape never crosses my mind. But for a lot of women it is a real and genuine fear. I don’t what the rape crisis centre can do to prevent a rape from happening, but I am glad that they are there to help people who are victims of this horrible crime.
I find it hard to believe that people are actually being cynical about this. Its exactly that kind of mentality that has suicide numbers so high in Ireland. These services are really important and sadly Im sure most people (by some degree of separation) know somebody affected by rape. If anything I think more money should be spent on helplines
There has been no cynicism whatever. There are simple analyses of the date published and my wish to have these organisations which receive funding from the State to be audited.
If our Banks has been closely monitored we wouldn’t be having this shortage of funds but regardless good governance demands that audits be carried out or should we just sign more blank cheques.
So 12,000 calls, with only 91 cases were reported to Gardai……from those only seven brought to court.
So only 4 proven cases out of 12,000 phone calls, and one false accusation…..also 734 alleged rapes out of the 12,000 calls.
What are the other 11,200 phone calls about?…..I hate to be sceptical, however looks like inflating the numbers to maintain funding, and exaggerating the workload.
Hi,
The figures are all in the article. The 91 reports to Gardaí were from 304 cases that the reporting status was known. The helpline deals with calls about sexual assault and rape in the past (and not just in the immediate aftermath of the trauma).
I would also argue that an acquittal does not equate to a false allegation.
Sinead
Would you have bothered to make any research, you’d have known that a) rapes are massively underreported and b) there is no significant difference in the false report rate between rape and other serious crimes. HTH, HAND.
Ok Sinead had another look at the figures……but still it is unclear
It seems like “about” 3000 calls, from these 734 alleged rapes which are described as “incidents”. From these only 304 have their “reporting status known”. Then only 91 passed to gardai, of which only 7 were prosecuted.
What happened with the other 430? why is their reporting status unknown? How can they not know?
It begs a lot of questions, and we have to be sceptical.
My point is this is a very different picture from the inflated 12,000 calls reported in the headlines and their report. Also very disingenuous, As the DRCC they should report the statistics that are relevant and not misleading.
People are innocent until proven guilty, therefore if not proven guilty they are falsely accused. If you erode this principle, then the rule of law is worthless, and we would be in the world of rumour and accusations, and gossip and revenge based on hearsay.
It is a helpline, not 999. Calls are made for a number of reasons by victims of rape. Sometimes these rapes have been reported, sometimes they haven’t. Sometimes people will remain anonymous, sometimes people will come forward. Again, it is a helpline – not the beginning on an inquiry. If a man or woman doesn’t want to reveal if they’ve gone to the Gardaí or not, they do not have to.
The calls are people asking for help, not gossiping or falsely accusing people.
The 12,000 figure includes 4,371 repeat calls. I would suggest going to the DRCC website and reading the report if you want to delve into the figures more but it seems that you are doubting that rape happens. It does.
All good points Sinead,
I know rape occurs absolutely and I am completely on the side of any victim, I cannot imagine anything worse. This doesn’t short circuit normal PR interpretation, and the figures in the report seem to be very disingenuous which does a disservice to its own cause.
That is what my points refer too….and the figures in them are accurate from the article, I don’t need to read the report. Correct anything if there is a mistake…..but I don’t think there is.
@Miroslaw
If you bothered to read my post, you’d have known your points a) yes it is a fact BUT does not refer to anything I said, I commented on the reported figures from the DRCC i.e. the reported numbers….I have no idea what point you are making?
b) Again irrelevant to my post……..did you even read it?…..
I just interpreted the facts and figures from the article, and asked some obvious questions that arose. Can you answer them? Wildly misinterpreting my comment does not contribute…
Have you made a mistake, or did you deliberately seek to
I’m a victim of abuse, my case took a 11 years to get to the high court your think it over then but it’s not it with u every day so if I need to talk to someone at any time it’s good to know I have someone. But did you know 1 in four people r abuse in Ireland they need this helpline and more support and not people put them down. It’s hard to tell people and and know they r going to believe you
Marcella, thanks for sharing your story and giving these statistics a face. It’s good to know you’re getting support from the likes of the DRCC. It shows what a vital service they provide.
I wish you nothing but the best for your future.
@hellogoogletracking it’s views like yours that make people not want to report rape or sexual violence.
Thats hardly fair,
I’m as appalled by rape as anyone else, and would welcome the harshest possible sentences for anyone guilty of such a disgusting and damaging crime.
I only commented on inflated figures including duplicate calls, and hoaxes, and wrong numbers etc being used to give the wrong impression by the DRCC, clearly in an attempt to maintain or increase funding, surely funding based on the correct or relevant numbers is what should be provided……
Nothing to do with the reluctance of victims to go to authorities.
They’re hardly inflated figures given that they are broken down for all to see in the report. DRCC didn’t write the headline just reported the facts in full as far as I can see.
People have some neck sitting back being critical of these services , that are helplines , set up because state services were absent , to give victims a helpline , often with plants of donations and volunteers working hard to be of help , and if they did as suggested pick the best time to get PR or maximise effectiveness to secure funding which is constantly being cut then good for them , should be applauded for running their organisation well , that they have to constantly beg for to retain funding for such a service is disgraceful in itself but to have idiots sitting around being critics on their keyboard is a pretty shameful indication of how some sections of Irish society have become.
Rape crisis centers are so very important but like services for the homeless or those in poverty, support for those dealing with an addiction, prostitution support services and any service to protect and help those who need it, the state will walk away and cut funding every time it can.
The people who do this work and run these places do not get the support and recognition they deserve and we do not respect the service these organisations provide.
@Mick
At a time when domestic abuse is on the rise it makes little sense not to push the number to try and maintain if not increase funding. This country is flushing money down the toilet to bail out bankers, the funding to the likes of the DRCC is minuscule in comparison but it’s the one that is under threat.
Laura
I don’t have a concern as to whether you carry a torch for the DRCC or not. However for you to say that it is perfectly alright for them to “push the numbers” of clients they deal with in order to get funding from the State is another world altogether. In fact the suggestion that figures may be altered to leverage additional funds could only be described as fraud if such was happening and that my original assertion was that NGO’s such as Goal or the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre must be independently audited to protect taxpayers funds and insure that fraud is not occurring. Why anyone has to be attacked for the type of objective comments that have been offered on this subject puzzles me.
Thank you daisy , I believe every service is need people don’t make up no. Just to keep funds, we need this service and we need home house and we need care service the disabled and we need all this service’s for the people and children, my disgusted that we have to fight for these things
Does it not seem strange that an Annual Report is published in the ninth month of the following year at a time when Government starts planning its funding of NGOs for the following year. If we examine the DRCC over the past ten years it was always about increased workload and just when that might begin to wear thin along came Date Rape with the drug Rohypnol and now its children’s repressed memories later on in life.
These organisations need to have their work independently audited before another penny is forthcoming from the State and it is wrong that their Annual Repot (substitute fund raising demands) are attended by a Minister as that leaves the Department of Health obliged to hand over funds.
I can just hear them scream foul and how dare anyone question their integrity and the contents of their files are confidential. Sure wouldn’t that scare away their clients!
That’s a bit speculative to be honest Mick. Even if it is true, there is nothing wrong in what they are doing by publishing a report that puts pressure on the government for a very serious issue. Besides they provide an decent and essential service to those who have been victims of rape. The numbers shouldn’t matter…if just two people were raped in Ireland, I’d still be happy with some of my tax going to pay for this organisation. Every citizen should get support if something like that happens.
Mick, it’s amazing how you can question the integrity of DRCC yet find nothing strange or unsettling about DOB with Enda ringing the bell in the NYSE. Or the billions being paid out to unsecured bondholders.
Is it because DRCC don’t turn a profit for IrelandInc that they are worthy of your need for more openness and transparency?
Thankfully there are a lot of people out there who care for the vulnerable in this country because it’s obvious where the governments priorities lie.
this is a dreadful response. why are you attacking this badly needed organisation your spurious notions and a half assed made up speculations. actually don’t answer. maybe one day you might find yourself waiting in their reception while a friend or relative gets some sort of help that won’t fix them but might help them to cope. . rape and assault of women is common in this society that the scene i describe above could very well happen. count your blessings you are that detached from this reality.
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