I thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, for allowing me to raise this issue and I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House to respond. This is one of those subjects that comes under the general area of women's issues. It comes up again and again, never with a satisfactory resolution.
The Government are not taking the crime of rape seriously, as indicated by the inadequate funds allocated to the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. To date for 1991 the total allocation from Government sources has been £21,000 to fund a service that will cost £132,000 to the end of the year. One questions the Minister for Health's perception of this organisation. Does he regard it merely as some worthy benevolent women's organisation rather than what it is — a unique and vital information and advice service for victims of crime, all of which victims happen to be women?
The strongest testimony to the incidence of rape in this country is the number of court reports in our daily newspapers. Every week horrific details of violent sex crimes are spelt out as women victims go through the trauma of giving evidence. The fact is that the cases we read about do not at all represent the true picture of rape in this country. According to Olive Braiden of the Rape Crisis Centre, only 30 per cent of raped women report the crime to the Garda and only ten per cent of those cases actually end up in court. The women victims of sex abuse and rape and their families, who need information, support, legal advice and therapy, have nowhere else to go in the Dublin area.
The Minister may believe that other social agencies or individuals are duplicating the work of the Rape Crisis Centre but on the evidence presented at the present time that is just not the case. The Rotunda Hospital sexual assault clinic carries out only medical examinations and necessary validations for legal action. It does not prepare victims for court cases, go to court with them or provide therapy programmes for their rehabilitation. For teenagers and adult victims of sexual violence outside the area serviced by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre there is only a patchy and uncertain service. Other services provided by the centre are a 24-hour telephone answering service and a training programme for those involved in sexual abuse care.
I personally met a victim of rape quite recently. She was an Irish American woman who had lived nine years in New York. She came over to Kilkenny, got a flat and had just got a job. After two weeks she woke up one night in her flat to find a man's hand over her face. He assaulted her, he raped her twice, he tied her to the bed, he stuck a knife in her and he choked her. She was almost left for dead. The woman had to go to hospital, she had to come to Dublin for help and she went through the rigours of the court process. Thankfully, the person who was caught pleaded guilty and the woman did not have to give evidence. I listened to her, I saw her anguish and her great distress. That is the reality of what is happening when we speak of rape. That woman did not discover through the legal process, either locally in Kilkenny or in any other way, that she was entitled to damages from the Criminal Injuries Tribunal for her loss of earnings and her medical expenses. That case brought home very clearly to me that it is essential to have a specialised service for those women.
The centre has been contacted so far in 1991 by 1,593 people looking for help. At present it has a waiting list of 282. I call on the Minister for Health to give an assurance that he will provide the £130,000 needed for the centre to survive this year or else indicate to the centre and to women victims where they can go to get the expert and immediate care that is now being provided by the professionals and volunteers at the Rape Crisis Centre.
