The 7 RCNI member RCCs in Ireland provide direct support to hundreds of survivors of sexual violence every year and are the primary resource for RCNI values and expertise.

The RCNI draws on those resources to represent the rape crisis sector and the issues of sexual violence on, among others,

  • Government Audit into the infrastructure and response across the whole of government to Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
  • Zero Tolerance: Third national strategy consultation on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence
  • O’Malley review the implementation plan led by the Department of Justice – ‘Supporting a Victims Journey’
    RCNI worked on all three subgroups, Specialist Training, intermediaries and the Victims’ Journey.
  • Central Statistics Office liaison group on the first national survey on sexual violence.
  • Delivering data for RCNI engagement with Garda National Protective Services Bureau.
  • Higher Education Authority advisory group on the monitoring of the implementation of the Framework for Consent
  • Sector Bodies’ work on Child Abuse Substantiation Procedure (CASP)
  • Worked with Fair Plé to develop guidelines regarding sexual harassment and sexual violence relating to the traditional music sector; 
  • Worked with Student societies in third level to develop a guide to supporting survivor disclosure, peer groups and activism.
  • Protect II Project Advisory Group meetings
  • Night Time Economy Advisory Group meetings
  • Crisis Pregnancy Agency programme for young people 
  • Foróige education programme for children and youth
  • Alcohol Forum: working group re: GBV webinars. Including providing the keynote in their webinar on sexual violence as part of their series on alcohol harm. 
  • Participating and contributing to the various interagency working groups developing policy and infrastructure to implement the Framework for Consent for HEIs.

Building on this base, the RCNI also works in active partnership with other national network agencies, including Safe Ireland. RCNI is active in partnerships and collaborations with a range of statutory, non-statutory, academic, national and international bodies working to prevent sexual violence and reduce its impact.

RCNI have been involved in a number of European and international collaborations and initiatives amongst them:

European Women’s Network against Sexual Violence:
Board member

European Network – Women Against Violence Europe (WAVE):
Expert advisor on the Sexual violence working group as it builds its language around sexual violence specialization.

UN Women:
Specialist consultant to a UNWomen project in the Western Balkans and Turkey. Shared Ireland’s 360 experience of responding to sexual violence as part of this project. The project culminated in a guidance document on the ‘how to’ of sexual violence response and we continue to participate in UNWomen led dissemination, promotion and training to rape crisis start-ups in other countries. 

Rape Crisis Scotland:
Consultations on RC Scotland’s experience with the development of the Scottish National Advocacy Project.

The Nations Group:
Liaison and shared learning with sexual violence specialists across the UK and Ireland.

Input expertise, statistics and evidence into

  • The European Inclusion Summit (EIS) disability research, 
  • European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) 
  • European parliament survey on Covid Impact on DSGBV and Istanbul Convention

Contact us for more information.