Rape crisis services are facing a surge in contacts as survivors of abuse during COVID-19 lockdown continue to come forward.
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre issued the warning as it launched its annual report for 2019.
The report notes that over 14,000 people contacted the National Helpline last year – up 6% on the year before.
The centre also saw a 118% increase in the number of people who sought support with the criminal justice system.
Meanwhile, some 300 people were directly supported in attending the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit, along with 240 friends and family-members.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre CEO Noeline Blackwell said the problem with reporting figures is that it is not clear whether there is an increase in people coming forward or an increase in harm.
“It is very hard to know,” she said. “We think it is probably a combination of both.
“We think there is more of a recognition by people that sexual assault is something that is down to you.
“It is not something that is something you are to blame for and therefore if you are hurt by it, you are entitled to reach out, to get the help you need and to hold somebody else to account for it, if they have done you harm.”
Today is the day - Join us at 3.30 (virtually) as we launch our 2019 Annual Report & statistics supplement #drccAR2019 pic.twitter.com/hJ8oVwKIei
— Dublin Rape Crisis (@DublinRCC) September 7, 2020
Ms Blackwell said recent weeks have seen a surge in people coming forward about assaults in the home during lockdown.
“People were reporting to us less in the early weeks of the severe lockdown,” she said. “People hadn’t privacy.
“We continued work with our clients but our therapists were hearing from people who were saying, ‘I have to go out to the car or someone is looking for the car now I need to finish up,’ so people didn’t have the privacy to contact us.”
She said around one-fifth of the people that contact the DRCC each year are survivors of all forms of domestic violence – and noted that people generally report other forms of abuse before they talk about sexual violence.
“People have to look out for the welfare of their children first, their own physical welfare, shelter, accommodation – these are the kinds of things you have to report first because you have to deal with them,” she said.
“Typically, all around the world, sexual violence reporting comes later
“It often happens around Christmas time as well. People are concerned with childcare, home-schooling – all the things they were concerned about during lockdown.
“Every single time the reporting comes in late. In late March, April into May and now we are seeing a bulge and real anxiety and suffering where we are trying to deal with people.”
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