MINISTER FOR Health Mary Harney has expressed shock at the number of rapes and sex assaults recorded last year.
The first annual report of all six nationwide sexual assault treatment units said 529 people attended the clinics which can help collect forensic evidence for prosecutions.
But the minister said this was believed to be only 10 per cent of the true annual sex-assault rate in Ireland.
She said she hoped the establishment of the treatment units would bring more victims forward for examination. Also, the establishment of specialised nurses – with power to give evidence in place of doctors – would encourage more victims to report their experiences, she said.
Some victims were as young as 13 and some as old as 80 in the 2009 figures, the first year that all six units in Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Mullingar, Galway and Letterkenny were fully operational.
Mullingar and Galway opened last year, while Letterkenny became fully functional again after an interruption of four years.
The report, launched by Ms Harney in Letterkenny, said the vast majority of victims were female, while 5.5 per cent of cases were male.
Some 61 per cent knew their attackers, and more than half the patients drank more than four units in the 12 hours prior to the attack. Almost 8 per cent took drugs and 11 per cent of victims were unsure if a sexual assault had occurred because of the amount of drink taken.
“The statistics must be a source of serious concern. However, it is reassuring to know that victims . . . can now access forensic clinical examinations . . . [and] follow-up care delivered by the highly specialist nurses and midwives,” said Ms Harney.