7 October 1999 Edition
Rape on the rise, say stats
BY TARA O'LIATH.
The more things change, the more they stay the same is most definitely true if the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre's (DRCC) most recent statistics are anything to go by.
Media coverage of the issue and of prominent court cases in recent years obviously haven't been a deterrent to perpetrators of rape and child sexual abuse.
While a percentage of calls made to the centre were from adults trying to deal with abuse suffered in childhood, almost half of the calls recieved were from teenagers.
Of the 7,500 calls made to the DRCC, almost 80 per cent were from Dublin and a staggering 65 per cent of rapes reported had happened within the last year, as had 7 per cent of reports of child sexual abuse.
Statistics show that victims of rape are more likely to report it to the gardai if their rapist was a stranger, with 40 per cent of clients reporting their attacks, but what's frightening is that in 6 per cent of cases, the rapist was known to the victim but only 25 per cent of these cases were reported to the gardaí.
Director of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Olive Braiden, said the figures in relation to calls from teenagers were ``very worrying'' and also pointed out that there was a high increase of male callers, which now account for 21 per cent of calls.
The Rape Crisis Centre is already overstretched financially and the level of funding it receives from the government is nowhere near enough to cope with the high demand for its services, another example of the Celtic Tiger's inequal distribution of resources.
The report shows that, although the days of Goldenbridge and other institutionalised atrocities may be crimes of the past, behind the closed domestic doors of Ireland, rape and child abuse are very much crimes of the present.
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre will be holding flag days this Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 7, 8 and 9 October.
The more things change, the more they stay the same is most definitely true if the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre's (DRCC) most recent statistics are anything to go by.
Media coverage of the issue and of prominent court cases in recent years obviously haven't been a deterrent to perpetrators of rape and child sexual abuse.
While a percentage of calls made to the centre were from adults trying to deal with abuse suffered in childhood, almost half of the calls recieved were from teenagers.
Of the 7,500 calls made to the DRCC, almost 80 per cent were from Dublin and a staggering 65 per cent of rapes reported had happened within the last year, as had 7 per cent of reports of child sexual abuse.
Statistics show that victims of rape are more likely to report it to the gardai if their rapist was a stranger, with 40 per cent of clients reporting their attacks, but what's frightening is that in 6 per cent of cases, the rapist was known to the victim but only 25 per cent of these cases were reported to the gardaí.
Director of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Olive Braiden, said the figures in relation to calls from teenagers were ``very worrying'' and also pointed out that there was a high increase of male callers, which now account for 21 per cent of calls.
The Rape Crisis Centre is already overstretched financially and the level of funding it receives from the government is nowhere near enough to cope with the high demand for its services, another example of the Celtic Tiger's inequal distribution of resources.
The report shows that, although the days of Goldenbridge and other institutionalised atrocities may be crimes of the past, behind the closed domestic doors of Ireland, rape and child abuse are very much crimes of the present.
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre will be holding flag days this Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 7, 8 and 9 October.