Many gardai display a bias when it comes to taking statements in cases of alleged rape, an academic has claimed.
A study by Dr Stephanie O'Keeffe entitled "Police Decision Making in Investigations of Rape" found that gardaí are often more focused on assessing if a complaint is genuine than they are on getting the details of the complaint.
Dr O'Keeffe, a social psychologist, will present her findings at a Sexual Violence Seminar in Cork today. The two-day seminar, which is hosted by the Cork-based Sexual Violence Centre, began yesterday in University College Cork.
The primary research tool of the study was a questionnaire posted to a "stratified sample" of 800 members of An Garda Síochána. In all, 326 of those canvassed fully completed the study.
Dr O'Keeffe said there is a huge problem with under-reporting of rape in Ireland. One of the key factors identified as a cause of this is the high level of attrition in bringing prosecutions.
"The aim of this research was to develop an understanding of how gardaí make key decisions when investigating rape, with the implied aim of evaluating training given to probationer gardaí and making recommendations on training provision.
"I don't know if there is a prejudice - that is a simplistic way of looking at it, but I do think there is a bias there.
"There is definitely a responsibility on the person making the complaint to prove that her experiences are real," she said.
The four-year long study was part of her doctoral thesis conducted at the University of Surrey. It was sponsored by the British Economic Social Research Council and The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform provided financial assistance.
The Garda Research Unit in Templemore facilitated the study and it is hoped the information can be used to better train gardaí to deal with cases of sexual violence.
"Gardaí say that in the first ten minutes they can tell if someone is telling the truth or not. However, often the cues they use, like the body language of the person and other signs, don't correctly evaluate the situation," Dr O'Keeffe said.
"There is also a practice whereby, if they don't think the person is telling the truth a more junior member will investigate or a detective will not be assigned the case," she said.
"The study found that when they are taking a statement, and this is crucial, they are more looking to see if the complaint is genuine as opposed to getting the details - 62% of Gardai interviewed agreed with this," she added.
She claims that the problems associated with investigations surrounding allegations of rape are not institutionalised, but "socialised" within the structures of An Garda Síochána and there needs to be a review of training policy.
A spokeswoman for An Garda Síochána said they would not be able to comment on the report until they had seen it.