Twelve and a half per cent more people contacted the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) in 2000 than in 1999 and of those almost half were first time callers.
Annual statistics released today by the group show that 8,150 people contacted the centre's 24-hour counselling line last year. A total of 3,508 people were calling for the first time - 82 per cent were female and 18 per cent male.
The statistics showed that 51 per cent of calls were in relation to child sexual abuse; 38 per cent in relation to adult rape and six per cent in relation to sexual assault.
Eight per cent of female and 7.6 per cent of male clients had experienced sexual violence in both childhood and adulthood and of the 102 males who attended for counselling in 2000, 52 per cent were raped as adult men.
The report also showed that most rape survivors were assaulted by people they knew; 79 per cent of survivors were raped by someone known to them, 19 per cent were raped by their husbands or boyfriends, 8 per cent experienced date rape.
Coinciding with the release of the annual statistics today, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has also launched an urgent appeal for volunteers to support its 24-hour counselling line service.