Rape crisis centre has changed society - judge

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) had changed society and forced it to examine its views of rape and rape victims, a judge on the International Criminal Court (ICC) has said.

Judge Maureen Harding Clarke, who has heard evidence of the use of rape as a weapon of war in the former Yugoslavia, was speaking at a conference to mark the 25th anniversary of the DRCC.

She said there had been a "major shift at all levels of society" about rape since 1979. It now was accepted that rape was a "potent weapon of humiliation" that deserved strong punishment.

"The presence of the RCC has greatly influenced the unmasking of the perpetrators . . . and challenged the stranglehold the church has had in running schools and nursing homes and children's homes. It has encouraged parents to ask questions and not to be afraid of authority."

At the conference a follow-up to the 2002 study Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland (SAVI) was published.

Among the original report's findings were that one in five women had experienced contact sexual abuse as a child, and in over a quarter of these cases the abuse involved penetrative sex.

One in six men had experienced contact abuse as a child, of which one in six had experienced penetrative abuse.

One-fifth of women had been assaulted sexually as adults, as had one in 10 men.

Almost half (47 per cent) had not told another person before being asked for the survey.

The SAVI Revisited report looks at the long-term impact on participants of taking part in the survey.

"Responses indicated that the experience of taking part was a good one," said main researcher Hannah McGee.

Lara Marlowe, Paris-based foreign correspondent for The Irish Times who has reported from numerous wars, spoke of the repeated use of rape as a weapon of war, saying that she was "struck by how often the victims of rape are Muslims by Christians: at the Tal Zaatar, Sabra and Chatila refugee camps in Lebanon; in Bosnia; in Chechnya . . . not to mention the sexual humiliation of Muslims by US forces in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo."

Minister for Health Mary Harney said it was "telling" and "incredible" that 42 per cent of young people would not know where to go for help if they were sexually assaulted.

Referring to the finding in the original SAVI report, she said it was vital that information be disseminated to young people via media they use.

"If we want to get the message to young people we have to use modern methods of communication like texting and the internet."

Speaking at the publication last night of Without Fear - 25 Years of the Rape Crisis Centre by journalist Susan McKay, Ms Bacik said it was "appalling" that, at a time of marked increase in the incidence of reported rape, sexual assaults and child sexual abuse, the law relating to sexual violence "has never undergone comprehensive reform".

She said it was "hard to believe", as documented in McKay's book, that there was "enormous public and political suspicion and even hostility" to the DRCC when it was founded.

Without Fear - 25 Years of the Rape Crisis Centre is published by New Island, €15.99. The DRCC can be contacted on 1800 778888