Sexual abuse in childhood was reported by more than half of callers to a telephone counselling service for the first six months of 2015.
Approximately 14% of the 2,565 calls to the Connect service went unanswered due to resource pressures, according to service manager Theresa Merrigan.
“We are open 20 hours a week for four nights and the volume of calls in that timeframe is significant,” said Ms Merrigan. “With a small team, we can only answer so many. The average call lasts 20-25 minutes.”
Connect provides listening support for callers, many of whom are waiting for face-to-face appointments with counsellors and psychotherapists in the National Counselling Service. However, figures supplied to the Irish Examiner by the Health Service Executive (HSE) show as many as 1,348 people are on waiting lists to avail of this free service for adults who have experienced trauma and abuse in childhood.
Source: Catherine Shanahan, Irish Examiner, 28/07/15
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