10% of those attending sexual assault treatment units reported multiple assailants
The latest annual report of the country's six sexual assault treatment units (SATUs) shows the proportion of cases where someone has been sexually assaulted by two or more individuals increased to 10% in 2024 from 9% in 2023 and 7% in 2022.
Use of weapons doubled
It also revealed that the rate of use of weapons in incidents of sexual violence more than doubled to 7% last year with physical restraints being used in 36% of all reported cases.
The report said the latest figures could suggest an escalation in the severity of injuries sustained in incidents of sexual assault as the number of people requiring referrals for injury follow-up care increased by a third to 21 — 2% of all cases. Five individuals needed to be hospitalised due to their injuries last year.
Drink spiking
The latest figures show 21% of people who reported sexual violence expressed concern that they their drink may have been spiked while a further 17% were unsure whether a drug-facilitated sexual assault had occurred.
They also reveal that the share of incidents where the perpetrator was described as a stranger also increased to 31% last year from 28% in 2023 and 26% in 2022.
However, there was a fall in the rate of 'recent acquaintance' assaults by someone who the victim has met in the previous 24 hours which decreased by four percentage points to 11% in 2024.
Fall in numbers attending SATUs
Overall, the report shows the number of people attending the HSE-funded SATUs fell by 4% last year with a total of 1,021 people who had experienced sexual violence attending the six centres — down 41 on the previous year.
The largest SATU in Dublin recorded a 13% decrease in attendances — down 57 compared with the previous year to 394 in 2024 while there was an 18% decrease in numbers at the Galway centre — down 24 to 113.
The other four centres — Cork, Mullingar, Letterkenny and Waterford — all reported modest increases in the number of people using their services.
Approximately half of all people attending SATUs last year were aged under 25, while the average age of attendees was 28 years.
The report revealed 2% of individuals attending SATUs were aged under 14 years.
According to official figures, 91% of people using SATU services in 2024 were female, while 8% were male and 1% identified as another gender or none — a similar trend to recent years.
Approximately seven out of 10 people attending SATUs last year identified themselves as Irish.
Individuals from 57 other nationalities also availed for SATU services with 4% of all cases needing the assistance of a translator.
The report shows a third of all incidents of sexual violence reported at SATUs occurred in Dublin, while 83% occurred within Ireland. A further 7.5% took place in the rest of Europe.
While weekend days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday continued to account for the largest proportion of incidents, their share decreased from 79% in 2023 to 56% last year.
The overwhelming majority of incidents (82%) occurred between 8pm and 8am.
More than two-thirds occurred indoors with 22% in the victim's home and 21% in the assailant's home.
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