Eleven Rape Crisis centres said yesterday that they oppose mandatory reporting of sex abuse because it would pose a threat to client confidentiality. The Government is now considering how mandatory reporting may be introduced.
At their annual general meeting in Galway at the weekend, representatives of 11 Rape Crisis centres unanimously agreed that they could not approve mandatory reporting. While the centres are committed to bringing sex abuse to light, such reporting could simply cause further trauma to many abused people, according to Ms Fiona Neary, of Galway Rape Crisis Centre.
"Therefore, if someone discloses information to any of our members about abuse in their past, and if they don't want it reported to the authorities, we will abide by their wishes, even if it means breaking the law."
The meeting commended the Psychiatric Nurses' Association for reaching a similar decision recently. However, the conference expressed outrage at "lenient and inconsistent" sentencing in recent rape and sexual assault rape cases. "Many women don't want to report sexual abuse because of what they regard as leniency of sentencing," delegates said.
Better support systems were required for people who had been abused, Ms Neary said. "At present, Rape Crisis centres are the only places providing support for male survivors of abuse. This has placed extra pressure on our resources and has led to other problems. Working with men requires special training and many of the centres don't have the facilities to support them long term. In addition, staff in some centres don't think it's appropriate to counsel men and women in the same building." The conference agreed to make recommendations on sentencing and victim support in response to the Department of Justice's current discussion document on laws relating to rape and sexual offences. All 11 centres represented at the a.g.m. reported that they were under growing pressure to keep up with demand for their services. The Galway Rape Crisis Centre reported 195 calls in 1997, up 49 since 1996. This year the number of weekly appointments provided by the Galway centre has risen to 70, an increase of 20 on last year.
"Not all centres have full statistics collated " Ms Neary explained, "because some have only been established in the last couple of years."
But at least two centres are currently operating a waiting list for people seeking counselling and two more are considering this option, delegates were told.
Meanwhile only five out of the 11 centres present can afford to pay all their staff. "Lack of funding is a major and ongoing problem," Ms Neary said. "Because of this, and the greater demand for our services, we have now pledged ourselves to seeking a three-year funding programme from the Government."
The conference also agreed to set itself up as an accrediting body for counsellors in rape crisis and sexual abuse. "This is because of our extensive work in this area and because we want to ensure that people coming to us will get the best possible service," said Ms Neary.
Members agreed that accreditation would be granted only after extensive training and monitoring of counsellors.