New figures suggest abuse most likely to take place within family

Connect, the out-of-hours phone service for abuse survivors, has found the most prevalent setting for abuse is within the family.

The organisation said in the first six months of this year 45 per cent of callers to it reported their abuse happened within the family home, 26 per cent said they had experienced abuse in their community while 15 per cent reported they had been abused in institutions.

Connect Service Manager Theresa Merrigan said their figures for the first half of this year are contrary to the common perception that abuse in Ireland has been largely an institutional problem.

Their figures highlighted a higher prevalence in the family setting, particularly relating to abuse which has occurred more recently, she said.

The service answered 2,600 calls in the first half of 2014 with almost 70 per cent of callers reporting physical, sexual or emotional abuse. Overall it received 4,435 calls in the six months to June, similar levels to last year.

Its counsellors and psychotherapists answered approximately 86 per cent of calls received during opening hours, a six per cent increase on the same period last year.

A majority of callers, 71 per cent, were aged under-50, with 28 per cent under 40. None of the callers under 40 reported institutional abuse. Two-thirds of callers, 66 per cent, were women, 32 per cent were men with two per cent transgender.

The number of male callers from rural areas has increased, in some instances surpassing female callers. For instance in Cavan, Kilkenny, Longford, Meath, Westmeath, Offaly, Waterford, Sligo and Wexford the ratio of male to female callers was approximately 2:1.These callers often reported being isolated and unable, or unwilling to access face to face services and stated a preference for phone based support.

More recently the announcement of the Mother and Baby Home Inquiry, and a subsequent expansion of the Connect service to open seven days a week from mid June to the end of July, has resulted in more calls from family members of people who spent time in institutions. Statistics will be released at the end of the summer in relation to service uptake during this period.

Ms Merrigan said many of those who contact Connect have exhausted services elsewhere.

“The high level of need amongst many callers to Connect points to a lack of intense psychotherapy places for callers with severe childhood trauma. Very often the challenging behaviour of people who have suffered severe childhood trauma means that they find it difficult to access adequate services.”

She continued “this is an ongoing concern for the Connect Service which is telephone based and therefore unable to provide callers with all the supports that they need. It can be difficult to know where to signpost such callers to as they often have difficult relationships with their local mental health team or psychiatrist.”

Connect, which is HSE funded, is a free service established in 2006 at the request of survivor groups. It is available at freephone 1800 477 477 from the Republic of Ireland and 00800 477 477 77 from Northern Ireland and the UK.

Further information at www.connectcounselling.ie.