SEX abuse victims are more likely to recover from their trauma and be better witnesses in court if, after their ordeal, they are brought to a specialised centre, a symposium on rape and sexual assault has heard.
But there is only one such unit in the State, that at the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin.
The Rotunda's Sexual Assault Treatment Unit helped organise the symposium under the auspices of the department of applied psychology, University College, Cork.
Dr Mary McCaffrey, who is attached to the unit, said that when women were seen by trained staff, they responded better and were more composed when giving evidence in court. Women were also more reassured when seen by a female doctor after the attack. Research in the UK had shown that when women who had been raped were examined by male doctors in a police station, they were much more negative, she added.
In Cork, Dr McCaffrey said, there was no designated sexual assault unit. Almost all cases were seen by one doctor. If she was not available, the victim was usually brought to the Cork University Hospital in the presence of a garda and this could add to the trauma. In the Rotunda unit, she "added, about 250 rape cases were seen annually.
There was an obvious need for more sexual assault treatment units throughout the Republic, she said. Plans were afoot for such centres in Limerick and Letterkenny but they were also needed elsewhere. The likelihood was that over the weekend, the symposium would call for a working party including the Garda, doctors, nurses, the health boards, etc., which would make submissions to the Government on the location of new units, she added.
Dr Mary Holohan, director of the Rotunda unit, said that at least five such units should be set up. In London, there were three treatment units with eight subsidiary centres. Increasingly, the Garda was using the Dublin unit but because distance was a factor, there was an obvious need for the creation of extra units outside the capital.
The best forensic evidence was collected when the victim was seen within 72 hours of the attack, she said.
Mr Barry Galvin, State solicitor for Cork, said rape was one of the most difficult crimes for the Director of Public Prosecutions to deal with. Even when the investigating gardai, the State solicitor and the DPP believed the victim, the evidence before them might suggest a successful prosecution could not be brought.
In such circumstances, a decision would have to be made as to whether it was in the best interests of the victim to prosecute or to refuse to prosecute.
The victim would be under continuous stress once a prosecution was in train. She would have to travel to Dublin to attend the trial, be cross examined and then possibly face a not guilty verdict.
Mr Galvin called for "a reform on the vexed question as to the fairness of allowing the previous sexual experiences of the prosecutrix with the leave of the court, without at the same time permitting evidence of previous similar sexual experiences of the accused, including any convictions for sexual offences".
Supt P J Brennan said there had been growing pressure in the media and elsewhere for sex offenders to be monitored after their release from prison.
He added "Perhaps a further deterrent to re offending would be to have these people DNA typed and the results stored on a national DNA computer register.
"The law provides for the keeping of these offenders' fingerprints on record why not a DNA profile?"
The symposium continues today.