Rape Disgrace - Village Magazine

56 February 2016

POLITICS

e’re living in a “rape culture”, even

though the term seems to annoy some

people. So let’s just say we’re living in a

culture in which rape is routinely trivial-

ised, where victims are frequently

blamed for its occurrence and their testimony is denied

and ridiculed, and where the onus is placed on them to

prevent rape from happening.

Just under a third of female respondents to a recent

survey among Trinity College Dublin students said they

had experienced unwanted physical contact while at

Trinity. A quarter of female students had been sexually

assaulted, or had a “non-consensual sexual experi-

ence”. The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) has

recorded a shocking increase of 36% in the number of

victims of rape and sexual assault to the Sexual Assault

Treatment Unit in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin in

2015.

Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop, CEO of DRCC, said: “The 36%

increase in the number of victims accompanied to the

Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in Dublin, for 2015 in

comparison with 2014, is very concerning. We have yet

to analyse these ﬁgures as to why there has been such

an increase”.

Surprisingly, 24% of callers

were male and there has been a

steady year-on-year increase in

males using the Helpline since

2008 when the ﬁgure was 14%.

There was an increase of 30%

in first-time callers to the

National 24-Hour Helpline in

2014 (the latest year for which

statistics are available), com-

pared with 2013 ﬁgures. Calls

relating to adult rape showed

an increase of 14% compared

with 2013 ﬁgures. There was an increase of 71% in

crisis appointments for recent rape and sexual assault

delivered by therapists in 2014, compared with 2013

ﬁgures.

Our statistics on sexual crime are shocking. It is now

thirteen years since publication of the Sexual Abuse

and Violence in Ireland Report (SAVI) detailing the

prevalence of sexual violence in relation to age and

gender for over 3,000 adults, it remains a very dis-

tressing document. So with a general election looming

what’s to be done?

Ratiﬁcation of the Istanbul Convention would gener-

ate change. The convention deals with prevention,

requiring us to put in place measures to challenge the

gender stereotypes, roles and attitudes that promote

this culture of violence against women. It obliges us

to ensure that the Garda respond immediately to calls

for assistance and that all victims have access to spe-

cial protection measures during investigation and

judicial proceedings.

The convention crucially deals with protection,

ensuring that the needs and safety of survivors are

placed at the heart of all measures. It demands the

setting up of specialised support services that provide

medical assistance as well as psychological and legal

counselling to survivors and their children. The con-

vention also stipulates the number of refuges that are

needed to adequately respond to women, that of one

refuge place per 10,000 of population – we’re well

behind this target right now. The Istanbul Convention

provides the framework for structural and personal

reforms and provides a mechanism to hold the Govern-

ment to account.

We need stronger legislation. Domestic violence

should be a crime of itself, accompanied by appropri-

ate sanctions that match the seriousness of the act.

Within the proposed sexual-offences legislation, a

deﬁnition of consent should be included. Consent

should be freely given - an enthusiastic, clearly com-

municated and ongoing Yes.

Right now one in ten victims of sexual crime in Ire-

land reports that crime. Of that one in ten, only 7%

lead to a conviction. We urgently need sanctions that

are effective, consistent, proportionate and dissua-

sive. The appallingly high attrition rates within our

criminal justice system and send out a message to

women that if they report a crime justice will be done.

We must provide a supportive environment for women

to continue through the system and seek justice.

Setting up the new Garda unit - The Human Protec-

tive Services Bureau – was a great move but it requires

increased personnel and ﬁnancial resources to target

domestic and sexual violence. Specialist units in each

Garda Division should now be established to address

domestic and sexual violence ,and ongoing training is

required at all levels to develop an expertise within

the force that both supports the victim and pursues

perpetrators to arrest and conviction.

We will only seriously address this issue when we

shift the focus from women, from asking what did she

do, why was she there at that time, why did she stay,

and place the focus on men who perpetrate these

crimes. We must break the malicious disbelief, victim-

blaming and perpetrator-excusal that surrounds rape.

We must restore funding to the organisations that

help victims. We must shatter this culture of rape.

Rape Disgrace

Ratify Instanbul Convention

challenging gender stereotypes,

and demanding that Garda

respond immediately to calls and

that all victims have access to

special protection

by Lorraine Courtney

36% increase in the

number of victims

of rape and sexual

assault to the Sexual

Assault Treatment Unit

in Rotunda in 2015