Dublin Rape Crisis Centre Launches Annual Report for 2016

05 October 2017

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Ahead of launching the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre Annual Report for 2016 today, Minister Charlie Flanagan said that he was “delighted to launch this report, which shows the valuable work done by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, providing services and expertise that feed into the Government’s Second National Strategy against Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence.” The Minister added: “I greatly value the constructive work which government and non-governmental organisations do together to eliminate the pernicious harm of sexual violence in our society.”

The report shows that there were over 13,300 contacts for help to the Centre, including 12,400 calls to the National 24-Hour Helpline which is run by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. Approximately half of those calls were from people who were contacting the centre for the first time.

In addition, the Centre provided training to 1,937 people in the course of 2016. Most of those were frontline workers in other services including law-enforcement, health and education professionals. Almost 500 clients were seen for face-to-face therapy by the Centre in Dublin City Centre, Coolock, Dóchas Centre at Mountjoy and in Tallaght.

Presenting the overview of the therapy and counselling work of the centre, Head of Clinical Services Angela McCarthy said: “Compared with 2015, 2016 showed a striking increase in the number of callers and clients who had experienced recent rape and sexual assault. There was a 24% increase in our calls, while half of the new clients that we saw in 2016 had experienced recent rape or sexual assault.”

Commenting on increasing number of contacts to the Centre, DRCC Chairperson Ann Marie Gill said that the increase was welcome if it meant that more people were reporting sexual violence. She added that ‘while these figures are an indication of the need that exists to tackle sexual violence, we still need much more thorough, comprehensive data than is currently available to really understand how to tackle the problem. The Centre is calling on the Government to undertake the necessary research”.

CEO Noeline Blackwell highlighted the high level of young people contacting the centre, with about 30% of contacts coming from those aged 29 and under. She pointed to gaps in education and awareness. She said: “A youth worker quoted in our report says that young people are really lost when it comes to consent. Our therapists see the same thing. As a society, we must be stronger in our intolerance of non-consensual behaviour. We must build a wide-ranging understanding that non-consensual sex is always rape.”

Spokesperson: Noeline Blackwell – CEO, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre

Editor’s Notes
1. The report will be launched at 9.00 am on Thursday 5 October 2017 at Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, 70 Lower Leeson St., Dublin 2 by Minister Charlie Flanagan, Minister for Justice & Equality
2. Dublin Rape Crisis Centre is a non-governmental, voluntary organisation which has as its mission to prevent the harm and heal the trauma of rape. It offers a suite of services to victims of sexual violence. It runs the National 24-hour Helpline for those who need it in any part of the country. It offers face to face therapy and accompaniment to the Rotunda Sexual Assault Treatment Unit, to court or to Garda stations to people in Dublin and in surrounding areas from its offices at Leeson Street. There are outreach offices at Coolock Civic Centre, Dóchas Women’s Centre, Mountjoy Prison and Tallaght Hospital.
3. We ask that when reporting on this topic, journalists remember that discussions on sexual violence can trigger personal trauma in those receiving the information. Where possible, please make reference to the National 24-Hour helpline number 1800 77 88 88 for anyone who may be affected by the discussion.
4. 2016 Annual Report and a summary of the statistics from the work of the Centre will be available on the website from 11 a.m. on Thursday 5 October 2017 www.drcc.ie

Dublin Rape Crisis Centre’s Annual Report & Statistics 2016 – The Figures

  • Headline figures January-December 2016
    • 13,307 contacts with DRCC services in 2016
    • 12,388 National 24-Hour Helpline contacts  of which
    • 3,456 face-to-face therapy appointments delivered to 495 clients
    • 144 Group therapy hours
    • 262 people accompanied to the Rotunda Sexual Assault Treatment Unit, court or Garda stations.
    • 162 friends or family of victims supported
    • 203 Volunteers
    • 14,002 social media followers.

National 24-Hour Helpline

  • Helpline figures must be read with the understanding that some people do not disclose information which can be collected. Some people do not even speak on the phone – silent calls.
    • Of the 12,388 National 24-Hour Helpline contacts (phone, email, text, social media)
      • 6,133 first time contacts
      • 4,228 repeat contacts
      • 2,027 unknown
    • 77% female, 22.5% male. 0.5% were transgender.
    • Callers were from 15 years old. Almost 2% were under 16. 0.5% were over 80. The main age groups were:
      • 18-23                                       14%
      • 24-29                                       16%
      • 30-39                                       22%
      • 40-49                                       22%
    • Almost 41% related to adult rape and 12% related to other types of 12.5% to other forms of adult sexual violence.
    • 41% of calls related to childhood sexual abuse.
    • 67% of callers were from the Dublin area and 33% from counties throughout the country.
    • 95% of callers were of Irish nationality, the remaining 5% represent a wide variety of nationalities.
    • August had the highest number of calls.

Face to face therapy Services

  • 495 clients were seen for individual counselling in 2015.
  • 144 Group therapy hours were provided.
  • 92% of clients attending counselling were female and 8% were male.
  • The main age groups were:

18-23                                       23%

24-29                                       16%

30-39                                       27%

40-49                                       17%

50-59                                       11%

  • 54% of clients were victims of adult rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment.
  • 45% of clients were victims of childhood sexual abuse (CSA)
  • 33% of clients who had experienced adult rape also reported experiencing other forms of violence in addition to the main abuse. 21% of those who experienced childhood sexual abuse also reported such additional violence.
  • Of clients attending in 2016, 2.8% had a disability.

Relationship between victim and offender:

  • Adult rape or sexual Assault:
    • Partner/ Boyfriend:                 17%
    • Parent:                                                2%
    • Other relative:                                    2%
    • Person in authority:                3%
    • Other known person:              46%
    • Stranger:                                 30%
    • Sex purchaser:                                    0.5%
  • Childhood sexual abuse:
    • Partner/Boyfriend:                  7%
    • Parent:                                                18%
    • Sibling:                                                9%
    • Other relative:                                    23%
    • Person in authority:                6%
    • Other known person:              28%
    • Stranger:                                 9%

Pregnancy

Female clients disclosed 11 pregnancies as a result of rape:

  • Became pregnant. Parenting:                        4
  • Became pregnant. Termination:        3
  • Became pregnant. Miscarried:                      1
  • Became pregnant. Adopted                1
  • Became pregnant. Fostered               1
  • Became pregnant. Unknown.                         1

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