The number of calls to the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre rose by 30 per cent last year, according to its director, Ms Olive Braiden. More than half of these calls concerned child sex abuse, up 4 per cent on the previous year.
Ms Braiden was introducing the centre's statistics and annual report for the past year, and launching its flag days, which take place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week.
She pointed out that while the reported incidence of crime has fallen, sexual offences reported to the centre continued to show a dramatic rise, with 7,094 people contacting the crisis line between July 1997 and June 1998, compared with 6,270 in 1996/1997. Instances of child sex abuse account for 57 per cent of all calls.
Of those who rang the helpline, 575 were seen for counselling. Twenty-nine per cent, 167 victims, reported the offence to the Garda. Victims of adult rape were more likely to report the offence to the Garda, and did so in 36 per cent of cases. When child sexual abuse was involved, 83 per cent did not seek action from gardai.
Garda figures are not directly comparable, as they relate to the full year, ending December 1997, and the whole State. These show 256 rapes of females reported in that year, and 607 instances of sexual assault, including child sex abuse.
Ms Braiden drew attention to the report just completed by the School of Law in Trinity College, in conjunction with the Rape Crisis Centre, which made a connection between the reporting of rape to the police and legal representation for the victim during the legal proceedings.
She welcomed the commitment from the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, for legal representation for victims during a small part of the trial, if and when their previous sexual history was allowed as evidence, and hoped this would be built on.
Clients were more likely to report rape to the gardai if the rapist was a stranger, she said. Almost half those who reported rape by a stranger reported it to gardai, but this dropped to a quarter if the rapist was a relative, husband or boyfriend.
Only 1 per cent of the perpetrators of child sex abuse were strangers, scotching the image of the sex abuser as the stranger lurking in the bushes. Sixty-eight per cent were fathers, brothers, or other male relatives, and 29 per cent were otherwise known to the victim.
Those who were victims of recent rape were also more likely to report it to the Garda, and did so in 45 per cent of cases. This dropped to 26 per cent when the rape happened some time previously.
Referring to the DRCC statistics, Dr Ronan Conroy, a medical statistician and researcher, said these represented only the tip of the iceberg. He said the increase on last year's figures could be accounted for by an increase in offences, by more recognition of what constituted rape and sexual assault, or by the fact that there was more reporting both of assaults and prosecutions in the media, which encouraged more people to seek help.
Ms Braiden said the Rape Crisis Centre was developing its outreach service, with a centre operating in the Northside Shopping Centre in Coolock. This would now be extended to Ballymun.
She said the centre had also continued its training of counsellors and field workers in Bosnia. Over the past year seven training courses were provided in Goradze, Travnik and Tuzla by DRCC trainers working in conjunction with Humanitarian and Medical Development.
"We are deeply concerned with Kosovo," she said. "There are reports of women being isolated from other prisoners and raped, the same as in Bosnia. How long more will the EU wait before taking the only action that [Yugoslav President] Milosevic under stands?"
She appealed for support for the centre's flag days this week. "While the DRCC is grateful for the additional funding announced by the Government, the steady rise in demand for its services means that the gap between outgoings and its available resources is likely to remain for the foreseeable future." Government funding accounted for only a third of expenditure, she said.