Sir, – Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) welcomes the Government's commitment to make the surveying of sexual violence in our society an embedded part of the knowledge generating infrastructure of the State by tasking the Central Statistics Office with conducting and delivering regular sexual violence population data (News, November 23rd).
The repeated general population study, with a sample size of 5,000 people, will represent everyone in our society.
We welcome the move away from an ad hoc approach and we particularly welcome the long-term commitment of Government and indeed all parties to this investment.
For survivors, where they experience disbelief daily, it is of the utmost importance that this evidence is irrefutable and unquestionable. It can only be so if we take every care to build it properly from the start. The Government’s recognition that this takes time is progressive. – Is mise,
Dr CLÍONA SAIDLÉAR,
RCNI Executive Director,
Carmichael Centre,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7.