Number of clerical abuse victims could be 10 times higher than report shows

22 July 2009

The true number of victims of clerical sex abuse within the Dublin archdiocese is likely to number in the thousands — not the 450 cited in a new report drawn up by the Irish Government-appointed Commission of Investigation, it was claimed last night.

“We believe there's a large number of people who were abused in the Dublin diocese who haven't come forward,” the executive director of victims’ group One in Four Maeve Lewis said.

One in Four and other support groups for victims of clerical sex abuse are now urging the Dublin government to delay publication of the report to prepare for the anticipated onslaught of victims who will be coming to terms with its explosive findings. The Commission of Investigation into the handling of clerical sex abuse in the diocese was expected to hand over its long-awaited report to the Republic’s Justice Minister Dermot Ahern yesterday.

However, victims' support groups — including One in Four, The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and Survivors of Child Abuse (SOCA) — are all urging the minister to hold off on making the findings public until the autumn, when they have sufficient resources in place to cope with the flood of calls they expect the report will generate.
....
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has warned that the revelations by some 450 victims will be both “shocking and horrific”.
....
But independent support groups say they are already inundated with the unprecedented number of victims who came forward since the publication of the Ryan Report into clerical abuse at church-run schools, which was published in May.
Ms Lewis said One in Four has been inundated with 700 new contacts following the Ryan report.
She fears the latest report by Judge Yvonne Murphy will open up the floodgates for victims who have not disclosed their abuse before and will be in need of emergency counselling to cope with the trauma.
.....