Centres around the State are reporting increased levels of violence accompanying rape, writes Elaine Edwards.
It's safe to say no good news ever emerges when statistics on rape and sexual assault are published.
The reality behind the numbers is huge, personal and life-changing trauma for those women and men who report the sex crimes against them.
But a worrying trend was noted by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) last week when it published its annual report: its chief executive Irene Bergin said helpline counsellors were gravely concerned at increased levels of violence accompanying rape and sexual assault.
And the pattern appears to be replicated in other centres around the State.
Given the fact that true levels of rape and sexual violence are certainly much higher than the reported figures (just 12 per cent of people who experience sexual violence contact a support agency, according to the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland), this is alarming news.
Yvonne Pim, director of the Wexford Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Service, has noticed what she believes is an increased level of violence in reported cases, particularly in the case of young people.
"I think it also has something to do with a greater tolerance of a certain level of violence in relationships but it does go across all age groups.
"But the acceptance of this 'tolerable' level of violence is something we've very seriously been worried about for some time."
Pim says it's almost as if "the base-line" for what is "acceptable" has changed. People might see a push or a punch, for example, as "tolerable" within their relationship and not think to mention it as physical abuse.
Ingrid Wallace, spokeswoman for the Limerick Rape Crisis Centre, feels it's indicative of increased levels of violence and increased tolerance of violence in society generally.
She says the Limerick centre has definitely seen an increase in levels of violence connected with sexual assaults and rape.
"I do feel we live in increasingly violent times and this is being reflected in the figures."
But Wallace makes the point that it's not just in rape cases that violence is increasing - daily reports of robberies and burglaries now seem to involve greater levels of violence, she says.
Physical violence accompanying rape and sexual assault, though, appears to be a problem both where someone is raped by someone they know as well as in the not-so-common 'stranger' rape cases, she says.
And sometimes, she says, a person hurt by a partner initially deals with the physical violence inflicted upon them before they can even think, or acknowledge, the rape.
Wallace says attitudes to rape and violence need to be examined. "Because in some cases I think we are a little bit more sympathetic to the victim of violence than to the victim of a rape," she says.
"If I was mugged and beaten up on the street, I would get a lot of sympathy.
"But if I was raped, I would be asked all sorts of questions about it and whether I knew the guy, whether I had sex with him before - it's a whole different attitude."
In Waterford, the Rape Crisis Centre hasn't noticed a particular increase in violence accompanying sexual assaults, but it has noticed an increase in the numbers of people claiming they have been drugged.
"It's up slightly, probably, but we are seeing more increases in the line of where people perceive they have been drugged. There have been a few cases where they have had to go to A&E, but not a huge increase," says director Sheila Vereker.
In 2003, some 6.6 per cent of people contacting the centre following rape or sexual assault claimed drugs other than alcohol had been used. In 2004, this increased to 8.5 per cent.
Vereker is particularly worried about the increase in the number of contacts from teenagers under the age of 18, something also noted in Dublin last year.
"The thing is, we can't offer face-to-face counselling without a letter from their parents when they are under 18." She favours a change in the law to reduce the age limit at which such consent is required.
One volunteer with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, who attends the Rotunda's Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU) to offer support for victims, has "unquestionably" noticed an increase in levels of violence used against them.
"The cases just seem to get worse and worse and it sometimes feels like there's no end to it really. I can't identify what that trend means. Certainly there can be emotional violence levels to it, but there has been a huge increase in actual assaulting, in bodily assault of victims, male and female, that have been coming along," she says.
"Unless the person is prepared to talk about their lives and what's been happening in their lives, we may or may not get a sense of emotional abuse there prior to the attack.
"But we certainly can get a sense of what condition they come in physically and there has been a marked increase in people who have come in needing treatment, at a hospital emergency room in some cases. In other cases it's just very obvious signs of beatings - bruisings and lacerations on the body."
The levels of under-reporting underlying all of the frightening figures from sexual abuse counselling services throughout the State can be attributed to a number of factors. Some people feel they won't be believed and there is still a stigma attached to rape and sexual assault, particularly where men are concerned.
One centre notes that women working as prostitutes often don't want their families or friends to know what they do and, therefore, won't report rape.
In addition, people are wary of the justice system and of having the whole episode, along with their private lives, dragged through a largely unsympathetic legal process.
This partly explains why even the few rapes and sexual assaults actually reported to the Garda are successfully pursued through to conviction.
According to the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland, a network of 15 centres, an estimated 40,000 helpline calls were handled last year.
Allowing for the fact that some users may have made multiple calls, the fact that just 12 per cent of people who experience sexual abuse or assault make contact with such services indicates the reality of rape in Ireland is deeply worrying.