Dublin Rape Crisis Centre

Dublin Rape Crisis Centre National 24-Hour Helpline: 1800 77 88 88. Preventing and Healing the Trauma of R**e and Sexual Abuse Registered Charity Number: 20021078

Dublin R**e Crisis Centre aims to prevent the harm and heal the trauma of r**e and other forms of sexual violence. When sexual violence does occur, we offer a range of supports including telephone counselling through the National 24-Hour Helpline offering free and confidential support at 1800 77 88 88, one-to-one counselling & therapy, and accompaniment services to court, sexual assault treatment

units and when reporting sexual violence to authorities. We work to prevent sexual violence and to eliminate its tolerance in society through advocacy and public information and awareness-raising campaigns. We also provide training to professionals working in the area of trauma and supporting members of the public, as well as through our youth programmes aimed at equipping educators to build awareness among young people.

"Many survivors describe the trial process as a second trauma, sometimes as damaging as the original harm."In today's Ir...
23/06/2026

"Many survivors describe the trial process as a second trauma, sometimes as damaging as the original harm."

In today's Irish Independent, our CEO Rachel Morrogh writes about the Jeffrey Donaldson trial and a pattern many survivors will recognise: DARVO. Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender. It is a tactic often used by perpetrators and their defence teams, and an adversarial system built on "beyond reasonable doubt" can end up rewarding it.

We saw it in this trial. The complainant was cast as "a very, very unreliable witness", and the defence worked to recast her as the source of harm and Donaldson as the victim. Tactics like these have effects well beyond the courtroom.

The result is a widening justice gap. Fewer than 5% of people in Ireland who experience sexual violence ever report it, and reported offences fell by 11% last year. Yet survivors coming to Dublin R**e Crisis Centre for therapy have grown by almost 70% since 2023. More survivors are reaching out, but fewer are choosing the courts.

The jury saw through the DARVO tactics, and Jeffrey Donaldson was found guilty on 18 counts. Justice was served.

You can read the full piece in today's Irish Independent (link in bio).

If you have been affected by sexual violence, support is available on our 24-hour national free and confidential Helpline at 1800 77 8888.

If you are considering reporting, our accompaniment service can come with you to the Gardai and courts. Call our Helpline for more information.

Today Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of the DUP and a long-serving MP, was found guilty of sexual offences.Coming ...
22/06/2026

Today Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of the DUP and a long-serving MP, was found guilty of sexual offences.

Coming forward to speak about sexual violence is never easy. Doing so against someone who held high public office, who was widely known and held a position of significant public trust, takes a particular kind of strength. We saw in this case that it meant being doubted, being scrutinised, and reliving deeply painful experiences in the most public of settings.

No position, no title, and no level of public standing places anyone above the law or beyond accountability.

Thank you so much to the survivors at the heart of this case – we wish them healing and strength 💜

If anything raised by this case has affected you, support is available. Our national 24-hour helpline is free and confidential: 1800 77 8888.

If you are involved in court proceedings or thinking of reporting, we can support you. Call the Helpline to learn more.

21/06/2026

"Supporting Dublin R**e Crisis Centre allows us to make a meaningful and lasting impact, and we're proud to continue that relationship."

We're pleased to share this conversation with Dee Wright, Charity and Events Manager at The Hospital Saturday Fund as part of our 'Giving Meaning' series.

The Fund is a grant maker that supports registered charities working on medically related projects, and it has been a partner of Dublin R**e Crisis Centre since 2017.

As Dee explains, support from the Hospital Saturday Fund helps ensure that survivors of sexual violence and abuse can access the care, support and understanding they need.

We are grateful for this lasting partnership, and for the trust The Hospital Saturday Fund continues to place in our work. Thank you to Dee and everyone at the Fund for standing with survivors.

If you are thinking about reporting r**e or sexual violence to the GardaĂ­ but are worried about going alone - our Garda ...
20/06/2026

If you are thinking about reporting r**e or sexual violence to the GardaĂ­ but are worried about going alone - our Garda Accompaniment service means you don't have to.

We provide trained staff and volunteers to accompany you to the Garda station, help you understand the reporting process, support you while making your statement, debrief with you afterwards, and offer follow-up support as your case progresses.

Reporting is your choice. If you decide to do it, we'll make sure you are supported every step of the way.

You can also arrange accompaniment if you're already in the reporting process or preparing for court.

Call our free and confidential 24-hour National Helpline on 1800 77 8888 to arrange an accompanier.

The longest criminal trial in the history of the State has concluded, with four men convicted of sexually abusing a Deaf...
13/06/2026

The longest criminal trial in the history of the State has concluded, with four men convicted of sexually abusing a Deaf relative.

Deaf and disabled people are among those most exposed to sexual violence, and least served by the systems meant to respond to it.

US data shows that women with disabilities experience sexual violence at around twice the rate of women without disabilities, and disabled children are nearly three times as likely to be subjected to it as their peers. Irish research published by Women's Aid found that disabled women experiencing intimate partner abuse suffer higher rates of physical, economic and sexual violence than abused non-disabled women.

This is a result of how disabled people are positioned by the world around them. Our society often treats disabled voices as carrying less authority than those of others. Disabled people understand this, and abusers exploit it. Disabled people may rely on the very people who harm them, and the routes to report are not built for them.

Changing this means designing support and reporting with Deaf and disabled people rather than for them, resourcing services to be genuinely accessible, and starting from a simple principle: disabled survivors must be believed.

Every person who came forward in this case did something extraordinarily difficult. The strength it takes to give that evidence is the same strength we are privileged to witness in our work every day.

If you have been affected by anything in this post, you are not alone, and what happened was never your fault.

Dublin R**e Crisis Centre's 24-hour National Helpline is free and confidential: 1800 77 8888.

You do not have to phone to reach us. If you are Deaf or hard of hearing, you can contact us by text on 086 823 8443, from 8am to 6:30pm Monday to Friday (except public holidays). Our web chat is also available at drcc.ie from 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday, and from midnight to 3am on Tuesday and Wednesday (excluding bank holidays).

We're growing our team at Dublin R**e Crisis Centre, and we're hiring across our Therapy and Helpline services.If you wa...
12/06/2026

We're growing our team at Dublin R**e Crisis Centre, and we're hiring across our Therapy and Helpline services.

If you want your work to make a genuine difference for people affected by sexual violence, we would love to hear from you. We currently have six roles open:

Therapy Team Lead: Clinical leadership, case oversight and supervision within our Therapy Department.

Therapy Intake Coordinator: The first point of contact, guiding clients through assessment and intake (3 days per week).

Crisis Support Therapist: Immediate support, stabilisation and guidance for people facing acute crisis (4 days per week).

Volunteer Services Coordinator: Managing and developing our volunteer programme, from recruitment to training and recognition.

Helpline Team Lead (Out of Hours): Leading and supporting our out-of-hours helpline team across telephone, webchat and text (Friday to Sunday evenings).

Helpline Support Worker (Out of Hours): Providing immediate, confidential overnight support to survivors and their supporters (21 hours per week).

Closing dates vary across the roles. Swipe to learn more, and visit the vacancies section of drcc.ie for the full details.

Garda Vetting is a requirement for all roles. Dublin R**e Crisis Centre is an Equal Opportunities Employer, and we warmly welcome applications from people of diverse backgrounds and abilities.

The findings of the investigation in to the Bill Kenneally case are a stark reminder that, far too often, it falls to su...
10/06/2026

The findings of the investigation in to the Bill Kenneally case are a stark reminder that, far too often, it falls to survivors of sexual violence to carry the burden of bringing those who harmed them to justice. They are asked to come forward, to recount deeply traumatic experiences, and to hold their ground against the weight of an entire system, rather than being met by a system built to believe and protect them in the first place.

The Commission of Investigation report sets out how people in positions of influence, across An Garda Síochána, politics and the church, had knowledge of Kenneally’s offending and failed to act. Boys were sexually assaulted, handcuffed, photographed and blackmailed. The severity of what was happening was known, and yet opportunities to intervene were not acted on.

This is a case of historical abuse, but the barriers that failed Kenneally's victims - disbelief, shame, and the sheer power imbalance between a child and a trusted adult - continue to shape the experiences of survivors today.

The CSO's 2022 Sexual Violence Survey found that only 2% of men and 6% of women who were sexually abused as children ever reported it to the GardaĂ­. Among the adults abused in childhood who came to Dublin R**e Crisis Centre for therapy last year, almost 1 in 20 incidents were perpetrated by a person in a position of authority.

Those numbers are a measure of how rarely survivors feel able to come forward, and of how much we still ask of them when they do. A survivor-centred response requires systems that proactively identify, investigate and respond to abuse rather than leaving survivors to shoulder the burden alone.

If this reporting is surfacing something for you, our national 24-hour helpline is free and confidential: 1800 77 8888.

When someone is harmed by a person they know, love, or trust, it can be hard to reach out for support. Our Annual Report...
09/06/2026

When someone is harmed by a person they know, love, or trust, it can be hard to reach out for support.

Our Annual Report 2025 shows how common this experience is. Among the new therapy clients who disclosed sexual violence to Dublin R**e Crisis Centre last year, almost 8 in 10 incidents involving adults were perpetrated by someone known to the survivor. For survivors of childhood sexual abuse, that figure rose to more than 9 in 10, with 6 in 10 cases involving a family member.

Most of these were partners, relatives, and people in positions of authority. That closeness is part of what makes this form of harm so difficult. The person may still be in your life, your family, or your community, and naming what happened can feel like it carries consequences that you are not equipped to deal with.

None of that changes where responsibility lies: It rests with the person who caused harm, never with the survivor.

If this reflects your experience, you are not alone. Our National 24-Hour Helpline is free and confidential: 1800 77 8888.

When a high-profile trial involving allegations of sexual violence is in the news, the coverage can be hard to read, par...
06/06/2026

When a high-profile trial involving allegations of sexual violence is in the news, the coverage can be hard to read, particularly for survivors.

If you are following the current news cycle and finding that some of it lands close to home, you are not alone, and there are a few things we want to say.

You may recognise the questions asked of people who come forward: Why did you not tell someone at the time? Why can you remember some things clearly and not others? If it really happened, why wait so long to report it? These questions are familiar to many survivors, because they are so often the same ones survivors ask themselves.

Self-blame is one of the most common responses to sexual violence. Many people carry a sense that they should have done something differently, said something sooner, or found the words when they did not have them. We want to be clear: responsibility for abuse lies with the person who commits it, never with the person who experiences it.

Delayed disclosure is normal. Most people who experience sexual violence do not report it at the time, and many never report it at all. That is not evidence of anything other than how understandable it is to stay silent when we live in a society and have to deal with a justice system that are not centred around survivors’ experiences or wellbeing.

Trauma also affects memory. Traumatic experiences are often remembered in fragments. Some details stay vivid while others are lost, and that is part of how the brain responds to threat. A memory that is not tidy is not a memory that is untrue.

The idea that reporting a "real" crime is straightforward does not match the reality of sexual violence for most people. Coming forward is rarely simple, and there is no right or wrong time to do it.

If any of this is bringing things up for you, support is there. Our National 24-Hour Helpline is free and confidential: 1800 77 8888. You do not have to be ready to report anything, or to have decided anything at all, to talk to us.

One minute of your time today could make a real difference!Dublin R**e Crisis Centre has the opportunity to receive fund...
05/06/2026

One minute of your time today could make a real difference!

Dublin R**e Crisis Centre has the opportunity to receive funding through the AIB Community €1 Million Fund, and we’re asking for your support in helping us get there.

Last year was our busiest year yet: Nearly 24,000 people contacted our National R**e Crisis Helpline, 838 people accessed therapy through DRCC, and hundreds more received support through medical and justice systems. Demand is growing, and this funding would help us continue to meet it.

If you’re able to, we’d be really grateful if you could take a minute to nominate DRCC here: www.aib.ie/personal-forms/community-fund

Here’s the info you’ll need:

Organisation: Dublin R**e Crisis Centre | Region: Greater Dublin | Charity No: 20021078 | Social Theme: Other

If you have the time and inclination, you’re very welcome to add your own words in the form, but if it’s easier, you can simply copy and paste this:

“Dublin R**e Crisis Centre provides life-changing support to survivors of sexual violence across Greater Dublin. Demand for its services continues to grow, and this funding would help ensure survivors and their families can access vital therapy, accompaniment and specialist support when they need it most.”

If you’re able to share this with friends, family, or colleagues, it would mean a great deal. Every single nomination helps!

Thank you, as always, for being part of this community and for helping us be there when people need us most.

Address

Equity House, 16/17 Upper Ormond Quay, Dublin 7
Dublin
D07T2RY

Telephone

+35316614911

Website

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