Our History

Up until the 1990s, rape and sexual abuse was hidden in Ireland. It was considered taboo to speak out about it. This made outreach to survivors very challenging as women had few opportunities to talk publicly about their experiences of rape and sexual violence.

We started out in 1985 as a small network of six rape crisis centres in Mayo, Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Belfast.

We came together to support each other, share learning and build peer accountability. Our over-arching aim was to influence policy by bringing the voice of the survivor to the attention of policymakers.

These six rape crisis centres had built up their services without any funding from government, or office space. They relied on volunteers and donations to keep basic services running and operating from the front room of their homes. Outreach had to be undertaken below the radar, with meetings set up with survivors in anonymous places like hotel lobbies where information and practical support could be offered discreetly.

The 1980s was a critical decade for campaigning to change legislation and eliminate its framing of women as ‘property’ of men. There was a focus starting to emerge on women’s right to bodily integrity, and of rape as a violation of their rights. This shift happened thanks to campaigning by feminist groups, including rape crisis activists.

In terms of funding, around 1985, these small rape crisis centres began to receive small amounts to cover training, premises and advertising services, but it was not enough to cover salaries for those who were involved.

These centres took the decision to found Rape Crisis Network Ireland in 1985. Fiona Neary, who was a founder of the Mayo Rape Crisis Centre, alongside Ruth MacNeely in Galway, was chosen to coordinate the new network. They developed country-wide campaigns for better services and reform of laws on rape and sexual violence.

By 1990, marital rape had become a crime with the abolishment of the clause ‘any rule of law by virtue of which a husband cannot be guilty of the rape of his wife’.

We embarked on campaigns which called for statutory funding for new Rape Crisis Centres around the country. The network also built working relationships with statutory bodies such as the Gardai and health boards.

1997 was a critical year, with the establishment of a taskforce on Violence Against Women chaired by Minister for State Eithne Fitzgerald.

This landmark taskforce marked a paradigm shift with a commitment across government to tackling sexual violence.

In 1999, RCNI received our first tranche of funding, from the Department of Health and Children and could employ staff for the first time.

In the following decade the network grew and passed a number of critical milestones including the development of a formal charter of membership. We also developed a full suite of service standards for rape crisis centres.

By 2004, we had developed a database which collated data on experiences of sexual violence and access to justice from centres around the country.

This data, and our analysis, allowed us to publish our first report which highlighted patterns of violence and access to justice around the country. These reports, which went on to be issued annually, have been critical in ensuring that our analysis and advocacy is based on data.

In 2007, the network set a new priority – to lobby for standardized pay and condition in the Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV) sector.

This campaign was successful in 2008 and it included an additional Euro 5m for the sector in that budget year.

Rape Crisis Network Ireland was also critical to the expansion of Sexual Assault Treatment Units (SATUs) across Ireland – one of our achievements was for more SATUs to be opened across the country, providing this critical service for survivors.

The database is a cornerstone of our work – by 2014 its use had been taken up across the sector.

In 2014, 93% of survivors of sexual violence who contacted NGOs had their experiences recorded in our database.

A broad agenda of legislative change and reform of education and primary prevention was also achieved in this period. For example RCNI first advocated for a move to a consent-based definition in the law in 2008 and drafted this wording which was finally enacted in 2017. We also spent a decade tackling delay int eh system and laying the groundwork for a raft of enabling legislation to tackle this issue. We developed a consent-based education programme in an innovative partnership with national youth organization, Foroige to combat victim blaming and move towards interventions that work. This approach has since become standardized across education and awareness on this subject, not least because we drafted and successfully advocated for adoption of this approach in public funding in this area as a matter of policy.

The RCNI commissioned a major piece of research, Rape and Justice in Ireland, which took five years to conduct and was published in 2009.

This resulted in a raft of changes across statutory Justice agencies for example the Garda Síochána’s first policy on the investigation of sexual crime, crimes against children and child welfare 2010.

In 2015, when Fiona Neary stepped down as CEO, Clíona Saidléar was appointed to the role.

She took on the task of restructuring following radical cuts to RCNI by the new statutory agency Tusla. The network gradually built itself back, supporting Rape Crisis Centres around Ireland with data collection, legal advice and training support.

RCNI has won awards for pioneering work in data collection and standards and is seen as an exemplar of sexual violence specialisation across Europe.

RCNI has received endorsements from the EU Commmisson’s agency European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), as well as UN Women. We are also a key ally for sister NGOs across Europe to support their standards, models of practice and guidance.

In 2024, we updated our name, changing to Rape Crisis Ireland.

We still offer support to Rape Crisis Centres across the country through our training, legal and data collection services, as well as advocating on a range of issues, from curriculums in secondary schools, to legislation on the use of evidence in court.