One in eight perpetrators of sexual violence are people under the age of 18, a new report indicates.

According to the National Rape Crisis Statistics 2013 report, which has just been published by the Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI), 2,203 survivors of sexual violence presented to 15 rape crisis centres in Ireland last year and just over 32,000 contacts were made to centre helplines, amounting to over 3,100 hours of calls.

Information on the perpetrators of sexual violence revealed that 14% were children under the age of 18.

Furthermore, almost one in four (23%) of survivors who were abused when under the age of 13 said that they were abused by other children.

Almost two in three (61%) of those seeking help who were aged between 13 and 17 had been raped.

Meanwhile the statistics also revealed that almost 2,500 people took up counselling and support services in centres last year, over half of whom had been subjected to multiple incidents of sexual violence.

Some 7% of people attending centres in 2013 were children and 18% of people accompanied by Rape Crisis Centre volunteers to different services, such as Sexual Assault Treatment Units and the Gardai, were also children.

Two in three child survivors attending centres last year first disclosed the abuse to their parents.

Almost half of survivors of adult sexual violence reported the crime to a formal authority and 57% of those who reported the crime felt that the Gardai treated them in a sensitive manner.

In the vast majority of cases (91%), the pepetrator of sexual violence was known to the victim.

Commenting on the statistics, Dr Clíona Saidléar, acting director of the RCNI, emphasised that responding appropriately to survivors ‘must be a priority for the whole of Government'.

"To do this, we must have the best possible understanding of patterns and nature of sexual violence, in order to inform the approach to service provision for survivors, as well as in challenging the stereotypes and inaccurate, damaging societal attitudes that exist regarding all aspects of rape and sexual abuse," she said.

She insisted that the findings in this report highlight the role that data plays ‘in providing relevant, cost-effective answers to vital practice questions, including all aspects of uptake and usage of Rape Crisis Centre awareness, support and prevention services'.

"The report should not simply be regarded as a record of what happened in 2013, but rather, used as a valuable resource to plan for the future and inform the necessary responses from Government to address the problem of sexual violence, as well as implementing a decisive prevention strategy," Dr Saidléar added.