Peadar Tóibín
Question:4. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice if his attention has been drawn to the rise in attendance at sexual assault treatment units. [8031/23]
View answerThursday, 16 February 2023
Questions (4)
Oral answers (11 contributions)
Shockingly, more than 1,000 people, the vast majority of whom are women, attended a sexual assault treatment unit last year. This is the first time the figure has ever surpassed 1,000. The number of people who attended those assault units jumped by 20%, 200 people more than last year. The truth of the matter is that this is only the tip of the iceberg of what is happening. Typically, international studies have shown that those who present to these types of units are only the tip of the iceberg. A fifth of those who presented were children. What are we doing to lower the number of sexual assaults happening in Ireland?
I thank the Deputy for his question. As can be seen from the zero tolerance strategy published by the then Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, last summer, the Government is committed to tackling sexual violence in all its forms. The Government’s plan recognises the importance of strong legislation, reporting, supports for victims and a co-ordinated approach in our work with victims, and it outlines the actions we will take in each of these areas. Sexual assault treatment units carry out important work under the remit of the HSE and the Department of Health and I very much appreciate and support their 24-7 work all around the country in Dublin, Galway, Cork, Waterford, Mullingar and Donegal. A sexual assault treatment centre is a safe place to go and can provide health checks and medication, and can carry out an exam to get evidence following a sexual assault or rape.
Historically, the criminal justice system has not treated victims of sexual violence in a way that instilled confidence in it but we are working to change that so more victims will feel empowered to report what has happened to them. The significant rise in the numbers attending the units mirrors the increased reporting across the criminal justice system. My Department is continuing to reform the system to make it more victim-centred and evidence-informed, to strengthen relevant legislative provisions and ensure gardaí are properly resourced. While I am determined to strengthen our legislation in this area, I know this is only one element of what is needed. Building the confidence of victims of sexual crimes so they will report what has happened and get the justice they deserve is also key.
I am also very aware of the importance of comprehensive and robust data in this area. That is why my Department commissioned the CSO to undertake a national survey of the prevalence of sexual violence, the results of which are expected next month. This will provide an important baseline for evaluating the vital work across all of government under our zero tolerance strategy. While we might all wish that crimes of this type never take place, it is a positive that people are reaching out for help and we will continue working across the whole of government to encourage more victims to come forward. When people experience assault, they should feel safe and confident to come forward and get help. That is the cornerstone of the actions set out in Supporting a Victim’s Journey, a number of which have already been implemented, including increasing funding for NGOs providing accompaniment, information and support services, the complete roll-out of divisional protective services units and the introduction of a specialised sexual offences unit in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Only about 60% of the people who presented at these units actually reported these crimes to the Garda. That figure actually fell last year. There is no evidence that there is an increase in the number of people who are reporting these crimes as a proportion of the number of crimes happening. Ireland is becoming a more violent country in terms of sexual crime, significantly over the last ten years. In 2011, there were 1,958 sexual offences recorded. In 2021, the figure increased by 75% to 3,433 sexual offences.
In 2011, there were 447 rapes recorded. In 2021, it had doubled to 983. It is getting far worse. A number of factors are contributing to this. I suggest that one of those is the massive level of consumption of hardcore pornography by young children in this country. The Government has done nothing to stop that.
In terms of data, the reason we have commissioned the Central Statistics Office, CSO, to undertake a national survey is to establish the prevalence of sexual violence. The results are expected next month. The intention is to establish whether there is an increase in events of sexual violence or an increase in the number of people reporting what is happening. We must create a situation where people feel confident and safe coming forward. That is the cornerstone of our strategy to help people come forward. Combating all forms of sexual and gender-based violence is a priority. The Government has introduced legislation, funding and policy to help to support people to come forward and to feel safe in doing so.
Children at Risk Ireland, CARI, is a specialist professional organisation that deals with children who have been sexually abused. It found that in the past two years there has been a 44% increase in the number of cases of sexual abuse perpetrated on children by children. There is a massive problem with the consumption of hardcore pornography among children. I spoke to a parent at Christmas who looked at a screen a child was using. There were two searches: one was for Santa Claus and the other was for explicit, hardcore pornography. That is happening right across the country at very young ages at the moment. We have seen cases such as that of Anna Kriégel where, shockingly, there was a dark history of children consuming very explicit material. It is distorting young children's understanding of what is healthy in relationships. In France, they are now banning children consuming this material. They are saying that if people want to consume this material, they must prove their age. I have produced a Bill that does exactly the same here: it puts pressure on the Internet service providers to make sure that they know the age of the people consuming this material so that children do not consume it. We can stop this, and that could help in trying to resolve this very serious issue.
The Government is very much aware of the serious situation regarding young people and what they can access online. There is a cross-government approach to addressing this very serious situation. Work is being led by the new domestic, sexual and gender-based violence agency, which is also working with the Department of Education and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. It will build on successes of previous awareness raising campaigns as well. We cannot be naive either. Simply introducing a ban will stop access to the legal sites, but anybody who uses the Internet knows very well how to work around it.
We are talking about ten-year old and 12-year old children.
Deputy Tóibín should please not interrupt.
That is how the Internet works. Deputy Tóibín is being a little bit naive to say that if we simply ban something that it will prevent it happening.
Okay, let us just sit on our hands.
That is not what we are saying. We are doing a significant amount of work in this area. We have put a lot of bodies in place and we are addressing this very serious situation. We must address all of the areas and not take a simplistic approach to it either.