The first outreach centre to be established by the Limerick Rape Crisis Centre opened in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, yesterday and will serve the north Tipperary region.
Ms Ingrid Wallace, a counsellor at the Limerick Rape Crisis Centre, said the Nenagh centre had received £16,000 in funding from the Regional Planning Committee on Violence Against Women, whose function is to identify gaps in such services.
"In the Limerick Rape Crisis Centre, we see a minimum of 12 people a day for one-to-one counselling and we are open six days a week," she said.
But many victims of sexual violence had difficulty in getting access to public transport and travelling long distances. "It is hard enough without having to get on a bus and face a journey home," she said.
It was hoped to establish a similar centre in Ennis serving the Co Clare area. The service is also available to adult victims of child sexual abuse.
"Approximately 60 per cent of our clients are adult survivors of child sexual abuses. The service is there for men and women," Ms Wallace said.
The area covered by the Mid-Western Health Board includes Clare, Limerick and north Tipperary. Demand for the service is growing, with 200 new clients now contacting the centre annually. Between 15 per cent and 20 cent of clients are men.
Ms Wallace said a disturbing development was the increase in reports of drug-assisted rape. Last year, five people contacted the Limerick centre complaining of having been slipped a drug before being raped. This year so far, that number has increased to 10.
She said that Rohypnol, a prescribed sedative, appeared to be the drug of choice in such cases. It has been used in 10 cases of rape in the North this year, mostly in student bars.
The rape crisis outreach centre in Nenagh is located at 21 Connolly Street, and is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. (tel. 1800541122).