Last year in Northern Ireland there were 382 reported rapes. In south Belfast alone there have been 18 since April 2008.
Rape …Crisis, a new documentary on BBC One Northern Ireland goes under the surface of these statistics to investigate the reality of rape and sexual abuse in Northern Ireland, meeting victims of these crimes and the women who, against the odds, are trying to help them.
Northern Ireland has only one Rape Crisis Centre. Buried in the heart of Belfast, the centre is run by Eileen Calder, Eileen Kelly and a few volunteers. On an average week the centre takes more than 100 calls from victims of both rape and sexual abuse. Although the war on sexual violence is toughening, many victims remain too frightened to report their attack to the police.
Despite being busier than ever, three years ago, the Rape Crisis Centre failed to secure government funding. Today it survives on a small grant from the city council and charitable donations.
Shot over a year by award-winning filmmaker Alison Millar, this documentary speaks to survivors of sexual violence and the women who are striving to help them as they, themselves, fight financial uncertainties.
The programme meets survivors such as Christine, a 20-year-old woman who was raped in her own home as she slept. Waiving her right to anonymity, Christine grants the programme unique access to follow her as she comes to terms with her rape and sees her attacker taken to court and receive his prison sentence.
The programme also meets a woman who was sexually abused by her father from the age of 16. She was brought up in a republican area of Belfast. On finding out that she was dating a British soldier, her father blackmailed her into performing sexual acts on him.
The abuse lasted until she was 23 years old. Now in her mid-40s she lives in fear for her life. After having exposed her father as an abuser her family turned against her. Eileen Calder has been counselling her for over four years.
Rape . . . Crisis offers a glimpse into a world that has left victims suffering in silence, whilst observing the work of a few women who have dedicated their lives to helping men, women and children regain a part of their lives that was taken away from them.
The programme also explores why so much sexual violence happens here. With a high number of rapes and low conviction rates will the government’s answer to the rise in sexual violence - a 10.2 million pound Sexual Referral Centre - resolve this problem?
And if so, why will Northern Ireland be the only UK region left with no other free emergency service for victims if the doors of the Rape Crisis Centre shut?
Alison Millar, who directed and produced Rape . . . Crisis, says: “Over the period of filming I saw an incredible deterioration in the women who run the Rape Crisis Centre. This was personally very hard to watch as I witnessed them unselfishly give up everything to care for and help the many men and women who flocked to the centre to see them.
“I was deeply shocked at the extent of the experiences of many of the survivors of sexual violence who used the centre. Their stories are so horrific it left me questioning firstly the psyche of the human being and then the judicial system. How and why do sex offenders seem to slip through the legal system time and time again and why do we have so few convictions?
“The PSNI rape and sexual abuse unit were very helpful in making this film - especially with Christine's case.
“I came home every night after filming and thanked God for a happy home and an amazing childhood. So many children never had that.”
Rape . . . Crisis is a Tern Television production for BBC Northern Ireland.