TV documentaries exposing sexual abuse by the clergy in Ireland has helped victims of sexual abuse to report the crimes, according to Dublin's Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC).
The 18 per cent rise in calls made to the centre in 2002 coincided with programmes such as BBC's
Suing the Pope
and RTÉ's
Cardinal Secrets
, both of which generated a large amount of publicity over the issue of sex abuse.
"Media coverage of sexual abuse does help people to come forward and disclose abuse," a DRCC spokeswoman said.
The figures revealed call-outs to the sexual assault treatment unit in the Rotunda Hospital increased by 29 per cent during 2002. They also showed a continued rise in "stranger rape", which increased to 34 per cent of all cases reported. But most sexual attackers were family members and other people known to the victim
The centre said 60 per cent of callers were under the age of 30. The figures also revealed that many asylum seekers who suffered abuse in their own countries before reaching Ireland used the service.
Ms Barbara Allen of the DRCC pointed to a report published last year that estimated that half a million people were affected by sexual violence in the greater Dublin area alone. "Our services are only reaching a small number of these," she said, adding it was wrong to rely on Garda crime statistics, as most sexual violence was never reported.
Suing the Pope, first broadcast in April 2002, focused on the case of Sean Fortune who abused a number of children in the Wexford area. Bishop of Ferns Brendan Comiskey, who the programme alleged had mishandled the case, later resigned.
A few months later, Cardinal Secretsexposed the alleged poor handling of that and similar cases by the Dublin archdiocese. The programme helped prompt the Government into setting up an inquiry into allegations of abuse.