The Rape Crisis Centre has said that more than 7,200 people called its 24-hour counselling line in the one-year period up to last June. In its annual report, the Centre said that close to half of these were first time callers. Most were female, but almost 20% were male. Some 55% of callers complained of sexual abuse; another 40% said that they had been raped. The centre said that the actual incidence of sexual violence in Ireland is difficult to estimate.
