The Sligo Rape Crisis Centre is to be officially opened on Monday by the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Ms Mary Wallace. The centre has been open for two years but recently recruited a new team of volunteers, which will enable it to expand its services over the coming months.
Ms Frances Larkin, its co-ordinator, said that once these volunteers had completed their training in March it would be possible to take on more clients.
It is also hoped that the centre will be able to extend its opening hours, as present staff numbers allow it to open for just two hours a day, four days a week.
Ms Larkin said that in 1998 alone staff conducted 247 faceto-face counselling sessions and that 702 phone calls, seeking information, support or counselling, were received.
About half of all those seeking help are adult survivors of child sex abuse, and on average between six and 10 people are seen for counselling each week.
Some 80 per cent of clients are women.
Ms Larkin said she believed there were still a lot of people who could benefit from the service who had never contacted them.
"It's still very difficult for people to pick up the phone to contact a centre like ours, because there is a lot of secrecy and shame around these issues," she said.
Even when people do decide to take the difficult first step of seeking help for the abuse they have suffered, very few cases ever get to the courts.
Ms Larkin said this was mainly because of the way rape and sex abuse cases are treated in the courts.
Over recent weeks in Sligo, there have been two separate cases where men convicted of child sex abuse and of having unlawful carnal knowledge were given suspended sentences.
Ms Larkin said it seemed incredible that when the maximum sentence for an offence was life imprisonment, a judge would give a suspended sentence providing the man agreed to go on an alcohol rehabilitation programme.
"When they see messages like this being sent out, a lot of people decide they cannot face going through the court procedure. In general, they perceive the courts to be not very friendly."
Ms Larkin said it was "devastating" for people to go through a court action only to see the perpetrator getting off because of a legal loophole or being given a suspended sentence.
"It can take an awful lot of counselling to pick up the pieces after that," she added.
In her experience fewer than half of the people who seek help will even think about going to the Garda.
"It's particularly difficult in a small rural area like this. There can be a lot of pressure on people because the perpetrator might live in the same town or village," she said.
One of the most positive developments in recent years was that Garda training in the area of sex abuse had improved dramatically and cases were generally treated very sensitively.
Ms Larkin stressed that the centre offers non-directive counselling, and the aim is to give the power back to the individual. The length of time a person stays in counselling depends entirely on them.
The Sligo Rape Crisis Centre phone line operates on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10.30 a.m. to midday, and on Monday evenings from 6.30 to 8.30 p.m. at (071) 71188.