Sir, - In response to your report (The Irish Times, September 27th) on the rape of a young woman in Wicklow, we would like to make the following points:
Rape for any woman is a very traumatic experience, to say that the woman in this case was "not seriously injured" is to ignore the well-documented physiological and long-term effects of rape.
Incidents of assaults and rape amongst this group of women often go unreported. Who will believe them when there is a prevalent attitude that they "asked for it". The Ruhama Women's Project, which has been working for 12 years in Dublin with women involved in prostitution, has experienced many gardai who are responsive and recognise that these women are victims of a crime and as such deserve the full care and protection of the law. There are other gardai who are dismissive, judgmental and aggressive in their response.
These women face many dangers on the streets, from pimps, drug dealers and the men who use them. The recent Garda clampdown on prostitution in one section of the city has increased the risk for them. The women are frightened; they are being driven from the streets down poorly-lit back alleys and lanes. They are more inclined to jump into any car without time to consider their safety. They have no time to assess the situation as they know that gardai are watching and waiting to charge them.
Given that the Garda has to do its job, one has to question why is the focus on the women and not on the men who are the punters in this situation? Will this focus change if there is an increase of policing on the streets?
Ruhama believes that prostitution is both an abuse and exploitation of women and until society accepts and deals with this, no real progress will be made towards making Dublin a prostitution-free city. - Yours, etc.,
Maura Connolly, Catherine McAuley Centre, Herbert Street, Dublin 2.