Campaign with us

Sexual violence damages lives in a pervasive and lasting way. With its mission to 'prevent the hurt and heal the trauma of sexual violence,' Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has campaigned for more than 40 years for stronger legal and policy measures against rape and sexual abuse.

It has also worked to promote appropriate education and awareness-raising around healthy relationships and sexual consent that will lead to a society with zero tolerance for sexual violence. 

Consent campaigns

We~Consent: DRCC's primary campaign on this issue is We~Consent, a long-term national campaign to inform, educate and engage with all members of our society about consent. The campaign website features an abundance of supports and resources on consent, including how to have conversations about consent and how to support someone else. 

#EqualConsent: For International Women's Day 2022, we highlighted the role of equality in consent in a campaign called #EqualConsent. Sexual violence is a gender equality issue and DRCC is starkly confronted every day with the impact of this connection between gender inequality and sexual violence. 

In DRCC we describe consent as the opposite of sexual violence. It means voluntarily agreeing to engage in sexual activity in a relationship of equal power. This applies to casual sexual encounters and to long-term relationships and everything in between.

#100consent: Another of our campaigns focused on younger people aged 17-24. With our partners Pluto, we came up with the #100consent campaign which looked at clarity and communication in sexual relationships.The #100Consent campaign's message is that when it comes to sexual consent, the slightest uncertainty can lead to devastating consequences. We worked with some briliant young influencers to get the consent message out via TikTok.

We teamed up with 22 of Ireland's most popular TikTokers who attended a voluntary day of workshops and brainstorming sessions to help educate them on consent and inspire their content. Workshop themes included topics like “The stages of consent”, “The scale of agreement” and the power of social influence. The discussion sessions challenged them to come up with content that spreads the #100Consent message in a way that speaks more cleearly to their demographic.

#stillhere - support during COVID19 crisis

DRCC was part of the Government awareness-raising campaign, spearheaded by the Department of Justice & Equality, to emphasise that domestic and sexual violence support services from State agencies and the voluntary sector were ‘still here’ during the COVID-19 crisis. Anyone worried about or affected by sexual violence to contact the National 24-Hour Helpline at 1800 77 8888. Clients and callers to DRCC were expressing intense isolation and anxiety, many cut off from the normal supports and routines they rely on for relief or for escape. Sexual violence is and always has been a frequent element of wider domestic violence. Based on DRCC statistics over several years, some 20% of people we see suffered adult sexual abuse, including rape at the hands of their partners or ex-partners; as much as 50% of child rape and other sexual abuse happening in the immediate family. Learn more about this joint campaign at www.stillhere.ie.