The One in Four charity, which supports survivors of child sex abuse, saw more men than women come forward last year, for the first time in its more than 20-year history.
In what was also its busiest year, the proportion of male survivors reached a “historic high” – a development the charity puts down to the aftermath of the Blackrock Boys radio documentary, which detailed historic sexual abuse of two brothers, Mark and David Ryan, at Blackrock College in south Co Dublin.
It led to the establishment of a scoping inquiry into abuse in religious-run schools and, this year, a commission of investigation. Its work is ongoing.
The charity’s 2024 annual report, published on Monday, notes the 14 per cent increase in the proportion of male survivors – from 48 per cent of all contacts in 2023 to 62 per cent – and that this increase coincided with the Government’s publication of the Scoping Inquiry Report into Historical Sexual Abuse in Schools.
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“Contacts to the service increased by 17 per cent, with 7,674 support sessions delivered to 1,292 individuals. Advocacy support requests rose by 21 per cent,” says the report.
“The percentage of male survivors coming forward reached a historic high, climbing to 62 per cent from 48 per cent [in 2023].”
One in Four chief executive Deirdre Kenny said the trend indicated that when the State “talks honestly about child sexual abuse and demonstrates that survivors will be heard, people respond.
“The public conversation and the visibility of the scoping inquiry have helped create an environment in which survivors – especially men – felt able to come forward and seek support.”
In all, the charity delivered almost 8,000 sessions of support to 1,292 people. Nearly half (44 per cent) were living in Dublin, with 45 per cent in the rest of Ireland and the remaining abroad or unknown.
More than half were men (62 per cent), with 37 per cent women and 1 per cent non-binary.
“These numbers represent not just statistics, but real people breaking years, sometimes decades, of silence,” said Ms Kenny.
In July last year, the Government published the report of the scoping inquiry into historical sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders.
Its primary recommendation, that a commission of investigation be established, was accepted by the Government.
It appointed Mr Justice Michael MacGrath to chair the commission which will examine the handling of allegations, suspicions and concerns of historical sexual abuse all primary and post-primary schools.
Ms Kenny said the commission would “play a crucial role in examining decades of child sexual abuse in schools and uncovering the lessons of our past”.
