Bernard J. Durkan
Question:163 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the steps he proposes to take to combat the increased incidence of rape; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12911/04]
View answerWednesday, 5 May 2004
Questions (166)
Written answers
As the Deputy is aware, the provisional statistics for the first quarter of 2004 show a notable increase in some of the sexual offences categories, including rape of a female — up by 41 cases to 181 — and rape section 4 — up three cases to 21. As I noted at the time, this figure is disturbingly high and the commissioner has informed me that this increase results from the recent reporting of approximately 60 historical offences dating from the 1960s. It should be noted that these statistics refer to raw data and are subject to change in the course of the validation process.
I have been informed by the Garda authorities that the Garda Síochána thoroughly investigates all complaints of rapes and take every possible measure to ensure that the victims are dealt with in a professional and sensitive manner. There is close co-operation between gardaí and other organisations involved in this area.
The gardaí continue to make efforts to combat sexual offences by means of education, increased awareness and enforcement of the relevant legislation. The Garda authorities have informed me that the Sex Offenders Act 2001 is an effective tool in managing convicted sex offenders in the community as it places requirements on the convicted sex offenders to notify the Garda Síochána of their current place of residence. This legislation also creates an offence for failure of convicted sex offenders to inform employers of a sexual offence or conviction when seeking employment for work which consist mainly of unsupervised access to children or mentally impaired persons.
I can inform the Deputy that, in recent years, my Department has funded a number of awareness campaigns in relation to rape and sexual assault which were conducted by the national steering committee on violence against women. In addition, my Department has provided funding to a number of rape crisis centres to deliver a training programme in schools in their locality.
The Deputy may also be interested to know that my Department has recently provided joint funding for comprehensive research into attrition rates in rape cases. The research which is entitled, The Understanding of Attrition, Early Withdrawal, the Trial Process and Identifying Possible Changes to Support Complainants in Rape Cases, is being carried out by the department of law at the National University of Ireland, Galway and the Rape Crisis Network Ireland.