Message from Karen O'Donnell O'Connor, Executive Director, Rape Crisis Midwest

Welcome to the Rape Crisis Midwest website.  We aim to give you practical support and information here and also link you to the services and supports that you need. 

We hope that this site will give you a good overview of the work that we do to assist Survivors and their Supporters to deal with the aftermath of sexual violence. The breadth of our work echoes the different kinds of support that people need, such as counselling, accompaniment and training.

Rape Crisis Midwest has over four decades of experience in the area of sexual violence and we have seen a fundamental shift in the number of people who come to us for services. Unfortunately, sexual violence is still a major issue in our society but we have seen a change in societal attitudes over our time. We are moving away from a victim blaming approach and recognise that sexual abuse and rape is a serious offence and should not be a secret or a burden to be carried alone. Through our work accompanying Survivors in court and at forensic medical assessments and through our person centred counselling service, we can provide the care you need to move forward.

The cornerstone of our work here at Rape Crisis Midwest is that the trauma of sexual violence does not need to be permanent and self-defining and so we encourage you to seek help and support.

We have developed a strong training programme which ensures that both staff and volunteers here are specialised in working in the area of sexual violence. We also offer this training to individuals looking to upskill and organisations who would like their staff to have the tools to work with clients who are survivors. Get in touch to find out more of the types of training we can offer.

We are indebted to our volunteers and supporters who get involved here to help us to do our work. The range of volunteering opportunities ensures that whatever way you can contribute, you can get involved. Whether that is volunteering your time to assist with things like court accompaniment or to help us raise much needed funds, we need your help. We also have opportunities for companies and their teams to get involved through donating both time and money!

Please get in touch with us to see how best you can help us deliver our service in your community

Karen