A campaign to have a sexual assault treatment unit opened in the south-east is to be intensified in the autumn. Rape victims in the region face increased trauma because of a lack of qualified medical personnel to examine them, according to the manager of the Waterford Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, Ms Sheila Vereker. She told the centre's annual meeting that there was an increase of 5 per cent last year in the number of people seeking counselling at the centre.
"Despite this, we still have no sexual assault treatment unit in the south-east, and victims of this horrific crime may still have to wait for several hours before a GP can be located to carry out a forensic examination," she said.
A young woman recently had to travel by Garda car from Tipperary to Cork for examination by qualified personnel, Ms Vereker said. "When you're raped, the first thing you want to do is wash and change your clothes. Delays of this kind add considerably to the distress of the victim, who is already traumatised."
