A new study of the causes and prevalence of sexual violence in Ireland has been undertaken by the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland at the request of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.
The director of the centre, Ms Olive Braiden, said yesterday it had secured funding from a private donor last year to carry out research on the prevalence and causes of child sexual abuse and rape. This will be done by Prof Hannah McGee of the Royal College of Surgeons.
Ms Braiden was speaking to The Irish Times after a lunch to celebrate 21 years of the centre, attended by the President, Mrs McAleese. Mrs McAleese paid tribute to staff, volunteers and fund-raisers of the centre, whose professionalism, she said, allowed people to come forward with their stories, which they were often unable to tell, even to those closest to them.
The study will include a national survey of beliefs, attitudes to and experiences of sexual violence among women and men, in a manner which will facilitate tackling the crime, which, other studies show, is very under-reported. The sample will include homeless people, those in group accommodation, such as students, and in institutions, as well as those living in conventional housing, to ensure a representative sample.
The survey will also be subject to supervision by Prof McGee, who has a particular interest in research ethics. A project advisory group will advise those carrying out the research and keep the project in its two-year schedule. The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre was founded in 1979, when it received 76 calls for help. By 1999 7,500 people had contacted it.
Ten years ago the proportion of men contacting the centre was 10.6 per cent. Last year this had increased to 21 per cent.
The centre now employs 30 staff and two trained volunteer groups who maintain a 24-hour crisis line and attend the sexual assault treatment unit in the Rotunda Hospital, also on a 24-hour basis. It has also been involved in training programmes for aid workers in Croatia and Bosnia since 1993, and last year started a similar programme in Kosovo.