The Rape Crisis Network of Ireland’s records show that half the people who have contacted their center have been abused as a child by a family member. They also revealed that seven out of ten people were sexually abused during their childhood were the victim of more than one perpetrator.
 
These figures were collected from 13 centers around Ireland. The figures show that rape and child sexual abuse remain common and endemic in Ireland.
 
They also found that those who were abused during their childhood still finds that it affects their daily lives. A third of all survivors of childhood abuse reported being raped as an adult.
 
Sexual violence usually occurs in the family home for adult women and a third of the time it is inflicted by a partner or ex-partner.
 
The support service also revealed that one in six of the people they spoke to last year had told no one else about their trauma and therefore received no ongoing support.
 
The number of people who use their services to report the abuse to the police have risen to almost four out of ten. Sadly they also discovered that only one quarter of all sex attacks get reported to the police in Ireland.
 
Breakdown of the RCNI statistics for 2009 –
 
- 89% of perpetrators were known to survivors.
- 17% of victims the RCNI dealt with had told no one else about their experience of sexual violence.
- 13 RCNI member Rape Crisis Centers provided counseling and support to 1,588 people.