Madam, - I welcome Vincent Browne's comments on the level of sexual violence in Irish society (Opinion, April 23rd). According to the SAVI report (2002), more than four in 10 Irish women and almost three in 10 Irish men have reported experiences of sexual abuse or assault. People may find this to be unbelievable, but the Irish incidence accurately reflects the research from other countries.
According to the American psychiatrist Judith Herman, at the core of traumatic experience is the struggle between the need to speak the truth about terrible events and the need to deny them. This struggle is reflected in the ways in which Irish society has tried to come to terms with the exposure of sexual crimes over the past 20 years.
Agencies such as One in Four which work with victims and perpetrators of sexual crime understand all too well the ways in which it can devastate lives. The constant demand for services and the long waiting-lists support the truth that sadly, sexual exploitation is an all too common experience in Ireland.
The denial is shown in the lack of adequate resources from
public funds to provide services for the victims, the dearth of
treatment programmes for perpetrators and a justice system which
too rarely can convict sexual offenders. - Yours, etc,
MAEVE LEWIS,
Executive Director,
One in Four,
Holles Street,
Dublin 2.