An improvement in facilities for rape victims outside Dublin was called for yesterday by the director of the Wexford Rape and Sexual Abuse Services.
Ms Yvonne Pim said inadequate facilities and continuing myths about rape in society were among the factors which dissuaded the majority of victims from reporting the crime to the Garda.
"If you are in Dublin you have the opportunity to go to the sexual assault unit in the Rotunda Hospital, but that type of option is not available elsewhere," she said.
While awareness among gardai and hospital staff dealing with rape victims had improved in recent years, there was a need for more training for people working in these areas. "When people have bad experiences then the word gets out, `don't report'," she said.
"The forensic examination in rape cases is a huge ordeal for the woman. It's like a reenactment of the rape for some and if it's handled badly then it certainly will be." Simple measures such as the provision of showers and clean clothes could make a difference. "It wouldn't take a huge amount of financial resources," she said.
Ms Pim said that nationally only 30 per cent of rape victims report the crime. There was a need for improved awareness about rape in society at large, to remove the myths "which convince some victims that, at some level, what happened was their own fault. Rape is never the victim's fault."
Figures just published by the Wexford centre also point to under-reporting of childhood sexual abuse cases. Some 57 per cent of the clients counselled by the centre last year disclosed childhood sexual abuse, but only 17 per cent had reported this to the Garda.
More than eight out of 10 rape victims who contacted the centre said the crime was committed by people they knew, "dispelling the myth that rapes are generally committed by strangers", the centre said in a statement. Last year it received 3,837 calls on its confidential helpline, and the overall number of those seeking its support increased by 10 per cent compared to 1999.
The freephone number of the Wexford Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Services is 1800-330033.
Contact number
Readers who wish to contact Chris Dooley can leave messages by dialling 01-6707711, extension 6298; e-mail address: cdooley@irish-times.ie
