A drop in the number of reported incidents of sexual assaults reflects the lack of reporting by victims, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) said today.
Figures released this morning by the CSO show a drop of 44.5 per cent in the number of recorded incidents of sexual assault in first quarter of the year and a year-on-year drop of 16.6 per cent.
"These figures certainly do not reflect our experience here at the centre and that is for sure," DRCC CEO Ellen O'Malley Dunlop told ireland.com.
Brendan Howlin, Labour Party
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre is due to release its figures on May 15th which are expected to show an increase in people coming to the group for help, an increase in the numbers of people accessing its helpline and in the number of people being accompanied to the sexual assault units of hospitals.
Approximately 64 per cent of perpetrators of sexual attacks are known to their adult victims. Many of these are family members or the husbands of female victims. Ms O'Malley Dunlop pointed out that while sexual assault in marriage is now an offence, only a tiny proportion of married victims go on to report the assault to gardaí.
Ms O'Malley Dunlop said the reasons for the huge difference between the numbers of people reporting to the Garda and the numbers contacting the DRCC for help were many and complex.
Reasons include the length of time it takes for the case to be brought to court, the fact that "the system re-victimises victims" and the fact that "high profile cases such as the Mary Shannon case do not instill confidence in the victims of crime".
"These cases send out a negative image to people who actually have the courage to go through the system and hang in there," Ms O'Malley Dunlop said.
She added that while she believed there are many judges who are very consistent in their sentencing, the group is calling for guidelines to be introduced.
Ms O'Malley Dunlop said the DRCC had seen not only an increase in the number of reported cases, but also a significant increase in the violence associated with such attacks. She said perpetrators of sexual attacks were "cavalier" in their attitudes, believing that they were unlikely to be prosecuted for their crimes.
Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe said the major drop in the number of reported cases of sexual offences merely reflected a drop in the number of assaults being reported to the Garda.
"I am particularly concerned at the drop in the number of incidents of aggravated sexual assault, which is down 66.7 per cent year-on-year. This confirms that fears were fully justified about a drop in the reporting of rapes following last year's Supreme Court ruling on statutory rape, and Minister McDowell's rushed attempt to address it," said Mr O'Keeffe.
Labour Party justice spokesman Brendan Howlin said the figures "show the worrying extent of the continuing crime problem in Ireland and the utter failure of the Fianna Fail/PD to deliver on its promises to make our streets and our communities safer".
"These figures show that despite all the promises of Michael McDowell the Irish public is subjected to almost 2,000 headline offences per week or close to 300 per day.
"While the small decrease in the overall level of headline crime in this quarter is welcome, the increase in a range of specific offences such as abductions, arson and robberies targeting individuals is particularly worrying," he said.