Rachel Morrogh

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) yesterday published a statistical bulletin on victims and suspected offenders in 2022, showing that in 71 per cent of sexual offence complaints made to gardaí, the alleged assailant was known to the complainant.

The alleged perpetrator was a friend or acquaintance in 21 per cent of complaints, a blood relative in 14 per cent, and a current or former intimate partner or spouse in seven per cent.

A similarly high proportion (67 per cent) of complaints regarding attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences also involved a complainant and alleged perpetrator known to each other.

Rachel Morrogh, chief executive of Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC), said the figures should “send a message to anyone who has experienced any form of sexual violence by someone they know that they are not alone”.

Ms Morrogh continued: “The publication of this data today sits within the wider context of the overall prevalence of sexual violence in Ireland.

“Last year the CSO reported that one in two women and one in four men experience sexual violence in their lifetime. The data also showed that more than one in two people would never tell another person about it, and fewer still feel supported to report their experience of sexual violence to An Garda Siochana.

“Therefore, the statistics on recorded crime victims and suspected offenders published today are only part of the picture.”

She added: “There is considerable work still to do to increase the number of people who report a sexual offence to gardaí. However, it is encouraging that divisional protective services units are in place to investigate sexual violence.

“DRCC is hopeful alongside our work supporting victims that the DPSUs will build confidence amongst the victim-survivor community and that reporting rates will increase over time.”