The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has welcomed the report of the Catholic bishops' committee on clerical child sex abuse but has called for legislation to compel reporting of such abuse.
The centre said the report contained recommendations, rather than guidelines. These should be "reinforced by legislation which imposes a statutory obligation on everyone who is in contact with children in the course of their work to report allegations of child sexual abuse to the authorities. Until mandatory reporting is in place, victims of child sexual abuse will continue to be at risk of revictimisation."
It noted that no proposals were made in the report to provide counselling and therapy for victims and their families.
"While the report recognises the need for in service and ongoing training, education and information in this area, it fails to say who will carry out this very specialised work."
The centre noted that the "stay safe" programme in schools has facilitated the disclosure by children of sexual abuse. "Will the church ensure that this programme is available in all church run schools?" it asked.
It said there was not enough evidence in the report of at "thorough understanding" of the issue, and suggested that a"consultative process" including those working with sex abuse cases would begin to provide this.
