The national rape crisis helpline received more than 20,000 contacts for the first time last year, underlying the “scale of our sexual violence epidemic”, the charity operating the service has said.
Publishing its annual report on Thursday, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) said the number of contacts for 2024 marked a 22 per cent increase on 2023.
Of the 22,700 calls and texts to its helpline, more than half (10,727) were from people contacting it for the first time.
The charity also noted a 28 per cent increase in the number of people seeking therapy following rape or sexual violence.
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“More disclosures of rape and sexual violence were made to staff and volunteers than in any of the 46 years for which the organisation has existed,” the report says.
Rachel Morrogh, chief executive of the charity, said there were “likely a number of drivers” behind the increased demand, including survivors feeling increasingly confident about where to find support and the reality that sexual violence is still an insidious and common occurrence in modern Ireland”.
As in previous years, most contacts related to rape as an adult (37 per cent), followed by child sexual abuse (28.7 per cent) and sexual assault as an adult (16.3 per cent).
Sexual harassment was cited by 2 per cent of callers. Almost a sixth (16 per cent) of callers did not disclose the type of sexual violence they had experienced
Most contacts (85 per cent) were from girls and women, with 14 per cent from boys and men and 1 per cent from “other”.
People in their 30s accounted for 19.3 per cent of contacts, while 19 per cent came from those in their 40s (19 per cent). People in their 50s made up 18.7 per cent of contacters.
Those in their teens and 20s accounted for 35.8 per cent and people over 60 accounted for 8.2 per cent.
Among the issues that came up “regularly” on the helpline was of drinks being “spiked”. Callers expressed “confusion and anxiety at their lack of clear memory of the abuse”.
Some were assaulted while away and had received medical attention and made police reports abroad. Some returned home “as quickly as possible” to attend a sexual assault treatment unit (SATU) in Ireland.
The charity recorded “phenomenal growth” in the number of therapy appointments offered during last year, rising by 57 per cent, compared to 2023, to 5,916.
More than half the new therapy clients (55 per cent) had suffered other violence in addition to sexual violence including physical and psychological abuse, coercive control, drink-spiking, trafficking, stalking and threats to kill.
“We have also been troubled and upset to hear anecdotally of a growing number of clients who reference physical restraints being used by perpetrators as part of a sexual assault,” the report says.
This echoes findings in the 2023 annual report from the HSE’s SATU, which found physical restraints were used in 38 per cent of the incidents they recorded, a rise of 6 per cent compared with 2022. Restraint by the throat was recorded in 77, of 7 per cent, of attendances, the SATU said.
DRCC chair Annemarie James called for greater regulation of harmful and misogynistic content on social media platforms. She said there was a need for laws and regulations that “keep pace with emerging threats”.
“There are real-world consequences of legislative inaction and Dublin Rape Crisis Centre clients are bearing those consequences,” she said.
“The violence, cruelty and harm of online content is informing acts of sexual violence and urgently needs much stronger and braver regulation to better protect people.”
The 24-hour national rape crisis helpline can be reached on 1800 77 88 88
