Rise in immigrants' calls - rape crisis centre

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) has reported a marked increase in the numbers of calls from refugees and migrants who have suffered sexual violence in their home countries.

The DRCC, which is holding a conference today to marks its 25 ^thanniversary, said it received hundreds of calls last year from non-nationals and asylum seekers who had been raped in their country of origin or since arriving in Ireland.

Clinical director of the DRCC Angela McCarthy told the conference that 330 calls - or 3 per cent to the helpline were by non-nationals and 100 were from asylum seekers.

"Currently, we face the challenge of providing counselling to many asylum-seekers who are reporting rape, torture and imprisonment in their countries of origin," she said.

"It is part of our current and future challenge as a Rape Crisis Centre to provide a culturally appropriate service for the increasing numbers of non-nationals, including migrant workers, refugees and asylum-seekers who seek help for their experiences of sexual violence."

The centre warned a lack of funding was preventing them from providing counselling in languages other than English and French.

The one-day conference at the National College of Ireland is concentrating on rape as a weapon of war, with expert speakers including Lara Marlowe of The Irish Times.

Tánaiste Mary Harney also unveiled Savi Revisited, a follow-up study to Savi - landmark research in 2002 that revealed the extent and nature of sexual abuse in Ireland.

The new study looked at the long-term implications of research for participants and found no long-term detrimental effects for those involved.

The conference also saw the publication of a book on the history of the centre - Without Fear: 25 Years of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre- written by author and Irish Timesjournalist Susan McKay, who described the centre's history as a proud one which had saved lives and changed laws and opinions.

In the last 25 years, the number of people contacting the centre's helpline has risen from 76 in 1979 to 14,412 in 2004.

The crisis centre counsels men and women from its main centre in Leeson Street and an outreach service in Coolock, with plans for a new outreach centre in south Dublin.