RapeCrisis Midwest

12/10/2026

Since 2017, 62 people from Limerick, 17 from Tipperary and 4 from Clare have travelled to Cork's SATU for a forensic exam after sexual assault.

And that's not even the full picture. Records before 2016 don't exist. Many cases from Clare and Limerick go to Galway's SATU instead, or to Shannon Doc's forensic service, depending on which Garda station responds.

Every one of those numbers is a person who, on top of everything else, had to travel out of their own region just to get the care they needed.

The Midwest needs a full 24/7 SATU service. We're calling on the HSE and the Department of Health to fund and deliver it.

Write to your local TD or Councillor and ask them to support it.
https://r**ecrisis.ie/service/forensic-medical-examination-fme-support/

10/10/2026

Today is .

At R**e Crisis Midwest, our team provides counselling, helpline support, and follow-up support for survivors at every stage, whether the abuse happened recently or many years ago.

But right now, survivors in the Midwest have no support like this in the first hours.

A SATU brings forensic examination, medical treatment and psychological support together from a specially trained team, giving a survivor the chance to process what's happened without also having to navigate a fragmented system at the worst possible moment.

The Midwest doesn't have one.

Survivors here can access our counselling and psychological support with us, but the immediate medical and forensic care that should sit alongside it is missing, or only available hours away.

That’s why we are campaigning for a full 24/7 SATU service for the Midwest. Write to your local TD or Councillor today so they can bring this to their constituents.
https://r**ecrisis.ie/service/forensic-medical-examination-fme-support/

08/10/2026

SATU or FME - do you know the difference?

A SATU (Sexual Assault Treatment Unit) brings forensic, medical and psychological support together in one place, with a specially trained team, 24/7. There are six in Ireland.

The Midwest doesn't have one. Instead, there's a Forensic Medical Examination service, and it works differently:

You have to report to Gardaí before you can be examined - at a SATU, that choice is yours.

Follow-up STI screening has to be arranged separately, at a different appointment - a SATU includes it as part of the same visit.

And outside of evenings and weekends, there's no service running at all. A SATU never closes.

Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Mullingar and Waterford all have a SATU. The Midwest only has a part-time FME.

This isn't a smaller version of the same service. It's different and more limited.

The Midwest needs a full 24/7 SATU service. Write to your local TD or Councillor today.

https://r**ecrisis.ie/service/forensic-medical-examination-fme-support/

05/10/2026

02/10/2026

Where you live shouldn't decide the care you get after r**e or sexual assault.

Up to 4 hours 35 minutes. Up to €42. That's the travel time and cost a survivor in the Midwest can face on public transport, just to reach a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit, because there isn't one in the region.

This isn't a gap that needs more research. The evidence is there. The need is proven.

We're asking TDs, Senators and Councillors across Limerick, Clare and Tipperary to back a fully funded, 24/7 SATU for the Midwest, and to act on it.

https://r**ecrisis.ie/service/forensic-medical-examination-fme-support/

01/10/2026

Fewer than 5% of survivors of r**e or sexual assault ever report what happened to them.

And yet, 50 people have still used the Midwest's part-time forensic service since 2020 - a service that only runs limited hours, Monday to Thursday.

If that many people are coming forward through a service this limited, the real need is already visible. What isn't visible is everyone who couldn't, or didn't, because the service wasn't there when they needed it.

Six counties in Ireland have a 24/7 Sexual Assault Treatment Unit. The Midwest still doesn't.

Your constituents are affected by this gap, whether or not it's raised with you directly. We're asking TDs, Senators and Councillors across Limerick, Clare and Tipperary to back a fully funded 24/7 SATU for the region and to expect to hear from the people you represent about it.

29/09/2026

The care for survivors of r**e and sexual assault should not be a political party debate.

Survivors exist in every constituency. This isn't a partisan issue; it's a basic standard of care that the Midwest has been denied for years.

We're asking every TD and Senator, across every party, to back a 24/7 SATU for the Midwest.

This needs cross-party support to happen. Contact your local representatives, whatever their party, and ask them where they stand.

https://r**ecrisis.ie/service/forensic-medical-examination-fme-support/

25/09/2026

The Midwest has no 24/7 SATU. It's been raised in the Dáil, but nothing's changed.

Fewer than 5% of survivors of r**e or sexual assault ever report what happened to them. And still, 50 people have used the Midwest's part-time service since 2020.

The need isn't in question. The funding is.

With Budget 2027 coming in October, this is the moment to push for change. Write to your TD before the Budget is finalised, and ask them to back full funding for a 24/7 SATU in the Midwest.

https://r**ecrisis.ie/service/forensic-medical-examination-fme-support/

23/09/2026

What will it take for the HSE Ireland to give Midwest sexual assault victims care under one roof?

According to the Department of Health's own response to a parliamentary question, the answer is: the completion of an ongoing scoping process, then potentially a future decision, then, if we're lucky, planning.

This graphic, developed by WCI Limerick Women's Action Group, captures exactly what that response amounts to for survivors here and now — a system asking people to wait indefinitely for care that already exists everywhere else in the country.

Thank you to WCI Limerick Women's Action Group for putting this so plainly.

The Midwest needs a full 24/7 SATU service, and it needs a decision, not another scoping process. Write to your local TD or Councillor today.

https://r**ecrisis.ie/service/forensic-medical-examination-fme-support/

22/09/2026

Up to 4 hours 35 minutes. Up to €42.

That's the time and cost a survivor in the Midwest could face just to get to a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit, on top of everything else they're already carrying.

It's time and money a survivor shouldn't have to find, just because of where they live.

Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Mullingar and Waterford all have a 24/7 SATU. The Midwest never has.

You can help change that. Write to your local TD or Councillor and ask them to back a fully funded, 24/7 SATU for the Midwest.

https://r**ecrisis.ie/service/forensic-medical-examination-fme-support/