John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Sexual violence remains one of the most under-reported and under-recorded violent crimes in this country. It is notoriously difficult to evaluate the levels of the sexual crime and I, the Rape Crisis Network Ireland and other women's organisations would suggest the available figures only represent the tip of the iceberg. Ireland is still out of step with international standards and badly under-funded when it comes to treating sexual assault victims.

Rape crisis centres around the country have seen their Government funding cut by up to 31% since 2009. Despite a huge increase in the need for the organisation's services, some centres are starting 2014 with budget deficits of over €100,000 due to funding cuts last year. This year-on-year reduction in core funding has resulted in the curtailing of services, including education programmes, dedicated clinics for asylum seekers and, significantly, helpline hours and counselling services. In other words, thousands of calls are already being missed every year because of this.

There has been an increase of 23% in first-time callers to the national 24-hour helpline operated by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre since 2010. International research suggests that sexual violence, and violence against women in particular, increases in times of economic recession, and our own statistics support this theory. In 2012, according to figures I received today, 54% of all calls to the national helpline related to adult sexual violence. Some 41% of sexual abuse incidents disclosed by 322 new clients in 2012 alone included other forms of violence, such as physical and psychological abuse, intimidation and threats to kill.

In conclusion, it is a false economy to cut funding to services. Both the World Health Organisation and the World Bank have produced findings on research commissioned on the cost of violence against women and girls in societies. In the UK alone, the economic cost is estimated to be €26 billion annually.

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