Almost half of Rape Crisis Centre calls from people over 40

Almost half of the calls received by the Rape Crisis Centre were from people forty years of age and older.

That's according to the centre's annual report, which found 17% of people who called in 2020 were between the ages of 40-49, 22.5% were 50-59 years old, 6.7% were 60-69 and 1.6% were 70+.

5.7% of calls were made by people under the age of seventeen, with 2.3% made by under sixteens.

A total of 13,438 calls were received by the service last year, with 6,451 calling for the first time.

Almost a fifth of calls were made by men (16.8%) with the majority of calls made by women (83%) and 0.2% marked as 'other'.

Although most calls were made by people in Dublin, 36.3% came from counties outside the capital.

Of the 60% of contacts who gave information on the type of abuse inflicted on them, 48.8% disclosed adult rape while 27.2% disclosed child sexual abuse, with 10% reporting adult sexual assault.

The highest volume of calls was received in January, July, May and September.

The National 24-Hour Helpline (1800 778888) is free and confidential for anyone who needs support or information.