Just 8% of reported rapes result in convictions

ONLY 8 per cent of reported rapes in the State result in convictions, a study has found.

The rate is one of the lowest in a study of 11 European countries launched yesterday.

In some 88 per cent of Irish cases the alleged perpetrators had taken alcohol and so had 84 per cent of the victims, the study found. And 9 per cent of the reported rapes were false allegations; the highest rate of any country in the study.

Ireland was among 11 countries that took part in the EU Daphne II project, Different systems - similar outcomes, which looked at attrition in rape cases, the process by which cases drop out of the system. It was launched yesterday by journalist and broadcaster Vincent Browne at the Rape Crisis Centre in Dublin.

The study examined 100 reported rapes in Ireland, England, France, Belgium, Scotland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Greece, Hungary and Portugal in 2004.

In Hungary, some 34 per cent of the cases led to convictions, while in Germany the figure was 23 per cent. In Ireland, Portugal and England, the figure was 8 per cent. The lowest conviction rate was in Belgium, where only 4 per cent of cases ended in conviction.

Reporting of rape had increased in Ireland by over 500 per cent between 1977 and 2007, but the conviction rate had fallen. Between 1998 and 2000 the conviction rate was 16 per cent, but this had dropped to 8 per cent, the study found.

The two main reasons for the failure of a case to get to court were insufficient evidence and the victims’ withdrawal. Some 69 suspects in the 100 Irish cases in the study were interviewed by gardaí, only 18 were charged and 16 cases proceeded to court. Two people were acquitted, two absconded, and in two cases the victim withdrew during proceedings. Sentences imposed on the eight people convicted ranged from 4.5 years to 15 years. In four successful cases, victims had separate legal representation.

TCD criminologist Dr Paul O’Mahony said attrition in sexual violence cases is a serious problem throughout Europe. Mr O’Mahony, who partnered the principal investigators in the study, The Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit, London Metropolitan University, said the proportion of convictions within cases prosecuted had remained stable.

“The problem here appears to be one of under-prosecution,” Mr O’Mahony said.

The involvement of alcohol in reported rapes in Ireland was high, with 88 per cent of suspects and 84 per cent of victims having consumed it. In Portugal, the alcohol figure for victims was 15 per cent. Alcohol consumption was also an issue in the decision to discontinue some cases, Mr O’Mahony said.

“We have direct quotations from some victims who said they were unclear on details and their memories were blurred,” he said.

Only a fifth of the reported rapes in Ireland were perpetrated by strangers while almost a quarter were carried out by current or ex-partners. In Austria, Belgium and Portugal, strangers were more often the suspects.

Over half of the Irish rapes took place in the victims’ or suspects’ homes. And almost 40 per cent of victims in Ireland had injuries. This may be attributable to the relatively high proportion of rapes forensically examined here, the study found.

The rate of false allegations in Ireland was the highest of the countries studied, at 9 per cent. Principal investigator Jo Lovett said it was “still considerably lower than you would be led to believe by common discussion in the press”.

She said the factors in attrition for rape were similar in the 11 countries studied.

She also said that despite the high level of reported rapes perpetrated by current or ex-partners, there were few among convicted cases.