SOCIAL Democrats councillors Shane Hickey-O’Mara has called on the Health Minister to open a sexual assault treatment unit (SATU) in the Mid West.
He told members of Limerick City and County Council at the recent full monthly meeting that such a unit would help support survivors of rape and sexual assault who do not wish, or are not ready, to make a report to the Gardaà and wish to attend a SATU in their locality rather than having to travel to Cork and Galway as the current situation dictates.
The City North representative explained that his motion was born out of recently attending the launch of the Rape Crisis Mid West’s strategic plan review.
He said the organisation believes that “responding to sexual violence in our society, and holding perpetrators to account, starts with supporting survivors in ways that are respectful of their dignity, healing and choices”.
“Unfortunately, the current lack of a designated sexual assault treatment unit in the Mid West means that survivors are denied the option to approach the Gardaà if and when they choose to make a report as well as the opportunity to access the care they require post-assault,” Cllr Hickey-O’Mara commented.
He said that, in advance of his proposal of the Council writing to the Minister, he submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister through the office of his colleague, Senator Patricia Stephenson.
“In her reply, the Minister writes that SATUs provide ‘responsive, patient-centered care for people … who have experienced rape or sexual assault’. She continues by saying that SATUs also provide a range of services for survivors, including health assessments, medication, and forensic examinations – including options for people to access care without the need to engage with An Garda SÃochána. SATUs also provide opportunities for people to store evidence for up to one year, to give them time to consider their reporting intentions.
“Basically, the Minister is pointing out how essential access to SATUs are for survivors, in fact, her reply makes a case for one in the Mid West,” he insisted.
According to Cllr Hickey-O’Mara, survivors in Limerick receive a service that is not in line with those of other cities. Survivors, he claimed, are unable to receive health checks or the storage of evidence and, crucially, they must present to the Gardaà who then take over control of their journey.
“This goes against the experience of survivors who, in the strategic plan, share that they had mixed experiences of engaging with Gardaà and highlighted the importance of professional training,” he said.
“If the Minister isn’t willing to push for the establishment of a SATU in the Mid West then, at the very least, the Gardaà need to be better resourced and supported to help survivors in such vulnerable situations.”
Cllr Elisa O’Donovan seconded the motion, deeming it an issue that has been raised for close on a decade in Limerick by survivors of sexual violence. She said it was “horrific” what victims in the Mid West are currently facing.
“I have rang 999 about five times in my life and I didn’t do it lightly. You get through to a range of emergency services and I just think ‘how horrific is that’ when someone has been sexually assaulted, raped, and they have to ring 999 because it happened to them in Limerick,” Cllr O’Donovan told the meeting.