Dublin Rape Crisis Centre received more than 18,600 calls last year
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The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre received almost 500 calls from people with feelings of suicide in 2023, a new report has found.
The charity's annual report, which will be launched today, also revealed that its national 24-hour helpline received 18,605 calls last year, a slight increase (1.1%) on 2022 when 18,400 calls were made.
The research shows that of those calls, 10,106 were first-time contacts, 5,149 were second-time contacts, while 3,350 were undisclosed.
The contacts ranged in age from under 16 to over 70 years — while the largest cohort was 30–39-year-olds (19.6% of contacts) followed by 40–49-year-olds (18.5%).
First-time callers consisted of mostly women aged between 18 and 29.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the report “underlines the scale of the challenge that collectively we face, but also indicates that people are increasingly seeking support".
“While any report detailing an increase in calls to organisations such as DRCC is concerning, one of the key objectives in our Zero Tolerance Strategy to combat sexual and gender-based violence is to encourage victims to come forward and to report the crimes that are being committed against them.
“We are making significant progress in that. Nonetheless, many of the figures and statistics from last year are shocking, many of the insights harrowing”.
The study also showed an increase in the proportion of calls by men (17.5%) last year, while women made up 71.3% of the contacts. That is compared with 15.7% men and 84% women the year before.
The majority of the callers in 2023 were in relation to rape as an adult (39.8%) followed by child sexual abuse (33.6%) and sexual assault as an adult (16.7%).
The report also states:
- 23% of service users required further information or supports were referred to another Rape Crisis Centre while 20% were referred to counselling services;
- 20% of callers referred to the Gardaí;
- 9% were referred to a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU), 6% were referred to suicide prevention service, and 4% to mental health services.
The webchat service also supported 805 people — up 32% from 607 in 2022.
The DRCC also provided 497 clients with therapy compared with 551 service users in 2022 — which was attributed to the challenges faced in recruiting therapists at the end of 2023.
Ciara McCormack 50, from Clogherhead, Co Louth, was sexually abused by notorious pedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth in the 1980s when he was covering another parish priests’ duties in the fisherman’s village during four summers.
She said it is vital that the system for victims continues to change and grow as more people come forward.
“I used the rape crisis centre years ago” she said, “I didn’t get the support I wanted — it was in the 90s. But I know they have evolved and changed and there have been great efforts to give survivors a voice.
Ms McCormack was abused from the age of 10 over a four-year period.
“He stayed in a house down the road during the summers, and he would see us playing on the street. He gave us sweets and ice-pops so from around 10 to 13 years he was there.
“I did try and tell a priest who shut the door in my face while a garda made me say prayers when I told him”.
She was later raped at a restaurant in London in 1998 after being spiked with the drug Rohypnol.
“I was 25 and had been dragged into a toilet and had more than 80 bruises. It was a horrific time for me.”