Government fail to provide funding for report into sexual assault in Ireland

This is the stark reality.

The government reneging on promises made to fund a report into the scale of sexual violence in Ireland is the latest in a long line of 'women's' issues' being sacrificed for political expediency. While men also experience sexual violence, the vast number of victims are women and girls. The decision to not pursue a report into the prevalence of sexual assault in Ireland can only be viewed as a wilful desire to stay ignorant. Without up-to-date information, services are relying on statistics that are 15 years old as the last Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland (SAVI) report was conducted in 2002. The Rape Crisis Network of Ireland is primarily funded through the Department of Justice. They lost 70 percent of their government funding in 2015 and as a result, they were unable to afford to fund further reports. Without recent, accurate information there is a danger that sexual violence statistics will be underestimated and frontline services will not have enough funding to support clients. Executive Director of the RCNI, Clíona Saidléar said,

"The funding cut has left a gap which we can no longer fund out of reserves and thus, the 2016 data is not of a standard that we feel would be ethical or safe to analyse and release collectively.”

Without accurate funding, the Government will be relying on Gardai figures however it is well known that many victims of sexual violence do not report what happened.

#MeToo We hear this all the time..Why don't women come forward? For many reasons but the main one is the fear of not being believed. DRCC 1800 77 8888. https://t.co/YxOECPjXnd

— Dublin Rape Crisis (@DublinRCC) October 20, 2017

The Rape Crisis Centre Midwest reported that only 12 percent of their clients reported to the Gardai in 2016. The lack of will to collect accurate statistics also leaves Ireland in danger of not being compliant with EU directives. The government (made up of over 75 percent men) have decided that they do not have the €1 million to produce an updated SAVI report. It is weeks since it was announced in the Budget that Varadkar's "strategic communications" unit was to be allocated €5 million. It seems we have money for Public Relations for our Taoiseach but no money for victims of sexual crimes. €1 million is small fry in the grand scheme of the €60.9 billion that the Government had for Budget 2018. The money for the report was promised in 2015 after a 12-year gap in sexual violence statistics.

I raised government's defunding of the SAVI survey on sexual violence in Seanad today & called on @CharlieFlanagan to reverse the decision. pic.twitter.com/qrmtrKxUnt

— Lynn Ruane (@SenLynnRuane) October 19, 2017

Ireland is yet to ratify the Istanbul Convention, which provides a framework for European countries to prevent and combat violence against women. Why are our elected representatives reluctant to ratify a convention that prevents and combats violence against women and girls? The treatment of women and girls in Ireland has been condemned again and again by international human rights bodies like the United Nations CEDAW Committee, the Nations Committee Against Torture, the Council of Europe and UN Human Rights Committee. It's hard to imagine the victims of any other type of crime receiving this treatment. We have to assume that it's because the victims are mostly women.

Please RT: We know #SAVI2 is necessary to provide a comprehensive picture of sexual violence in Ireland today please note the DRCC manages the National 24-Hr Helpline 1800 77 8888. Our #2016AnnualReport provides a snapshot so take a look here: https://t.co/wkIzcciQXg pic.twitter.com/0Va7Ub6VgP

— Dublin Rape Crisis (@DublinRCC) October 20, 2017