Ireland has one of the lowest rates of reported rapes resulting in convictions in 11 European countries, according to a study published today.
Just 8 per cent of rapes reported to gardaí result in a conviction, the study - which was compiled by Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and London Metropolitan University - found.
In some 88 per cent of the Irish cases the alleged perpetrators had taken alcohol, the study found, and so had 84 per cent of the victims.
Nine per cent of the reported rapes were found to be false allegations, the highest rate of any country that took part in the study.
Ireland was among 11 countries examined in detail as part of the EU Daphne II project, which looked at attrition, the process by which rape cases drop out of the system.
The study examined in detail 100 reported rapes in each country; Ireland, England, France, Belgium, Scotland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Greece, Hungary and Portugal in 2004.
In Hungary, some 34 per cent of the cases lead to convictions, while in Germany the figure was 23 per cent. In Ireland, Portugal and England, the figure was 8 per cent.
The lowest conviction rate was in Belgium, where only 4 per cent of cases ended in conviction.
Some 69 people in the 100 Irish cases in the study were interviewed by gardaí, only 18 people were charged and 16 cases proceeded to court. Two people were acquitted, two absconded, and in two cases the victim withdrew from the case during proceedings.
Ellen O'Malley-Dunlop, of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC), said a two-year gap in cases being brought before the courts discourages victims.
"There is a high rate of conviction once a case gets to court, but we have a big fall-out between an allegation being reported and getting to court," she said. "A third of fall-outs are because the victim withdraws. We think part of that is the length of time it takes to get to court.
"They have probably received support and are getting their lives back together and they don't want to drag the whole thing up again."
