CALLS TO A HELPLINE for crime victims rose by 12 per cent last year, and assault was the most reported crime.

The Crime Victims Helpline is a national independent and confidential helpline which was established to listen to, support and inform victims of crime.

It was contacted by 6,417 people in 2011, an increase of 12 per cent on 2010.

Crimes

Its latest report of helpline activity from 2011 found that 67 per cent of its calls came from females and 33 per cent from males.

The most reported crimes were:

• Assault 36 per cent
• Sexual violence 17 per cent
• Property crime (burglary and robbery) 14 per cent
• Harassment 6 per cent
• Criminal Damage 3 per cent
• Car theft 3 per cent
• Domestic Violence 3 per cent
• Other (abduction, anti-social behaviour, arson, fraud, intimidation, road traffic collisions, and including homicide) 18 per cent

Approximately 50 per cent of the people who contacted the helpline were from Dublin, and while calls were received from every county, Wicklow, Cork and Galway were the counties which saw the highest incidences of calls outside of the capital.

The main issues for callers were emotional support, information, and dealing with the time after making their statement to the gardaí.

Immigrant victims of crime in Ireland

A study by Emma Holohan on Immigrant Victims of Crime in Ireland showed that the percentage of immigrant victims of crime accessing the services ranged between 1 per cent – 29 per cent in 2010.

The largest group of immigrant victims of crime were from EU countries UK, France, Germany, Poland, Eastern European), the second largest group were from Africa.

Holohan said that language barriers make it more difficult for people to know about and access the support services available, while culture also acts as a barrier to immigrant crime victims seeking support, as culturally influenced attitudes and norms could affect the reporting of crime.

Crime Victims Helpline: Freephone 116006, text 085 133 7711, email info @crimevictimshelpline.ie

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