The Cork Rape Crisis Centre celebrated 21 years in existence yesterday.The resource facility has changed its name to the Sexual Violence Centre in an effort to reflect more accurately the range of services it provides. Niall O'Connor reports.
The centre was founded in 1982 and began providing service to victims of sexual violence in 1983.
Ms Mary Crilly, founder and present director of the centre, said the anniversary was a tribute to the courage of the victims the organisation has dealt with over the years. "Today is an opportunity to regroup and examine where we have come from and where we are going. The attitude of society has changed dramatically since 1982 - there is a greater understanding of the issues.
"In the early years, people didn't realise that there was child abuse and that most people are raped by people they know, but I think there is a complacency now and people believe that everything is all right," she said.
The centre last year took 4,000 phone calls and gave individual counselling to 350 people. As much as 65 per cent of the centre's clients were abused as children, 35 per cent have been raped or assaulted as adults, and 15 per cent of the victims who visit the centre are male.
"People who come here are victims who want to be intimate with their partner again or parents who want to believe that their children are safe in bed at night," she added.
Ms Crilly believes that much is still to be achieved in the judicial response to rape allegations. She said only one in four people will report an attack, and statistics show that as few as 5 per cent of accused are convicted following rape allegations.
Victims "must wait two years before their case is heard - this continues the pain. There is a lack of support in the legal system ... and this must be addressed," she said.
The centre, located on Camden Quay in Cork city, also has branches in Bantry and Mallow and receives 65 per cent funding from the Southern Health Board. The Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin, yesterday spoke of the centre's important role in bringing sexual violence to public attention.