The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has "noticed a similar trend" after it was revealed six young Irish women were victims of rape attack while on holiday over the past fortnight.
A charity issued a warning after Cork tourists, aged between 18 and 23, were targeted by men in their 20s.
Rape crisis campaigners in Dublin told last night how they have noticed a similar trend in summer attacks.
Noeline Blackwell, CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, said: “We have a 24 hour helpline. The lines are very busy at the moment.
“A lot of the calls are from women who are looking for support in relation to sexual assaults at summer related events - holidays, house parties, festivals.
“The evidence is purely anecdotal at the moment but certainly in the month of July there have been a lot of calls.
“There’s a lot of boisterous behaviour - people may have taken too much to drink. But drink or drugs is never an excuse for sexually assaulting someone else. There can be no excuse for that.”
Last night, rape crisis campaigner Mary Crilly said: “They are just so riddled with guilt and it’s painful for me to hear about it because it’s not their fault in any way. These girls are very young, it might be their first holiday without their parents.
“They are meeting groups of Irish or English lads out in nightclubs in Spain, Portugal, Italy or wherever and are going back to parties with them.
“They would never go off with local guys on holidays but they think they are safe because they are from the same place or a similar culture.”
Ms Crilly, founder of the Cork Sexual Violence Centre, said the women usually feel very ashamed and are reluctant to speak out about what happened.
She added: “They blame themselves – maybe because they were drinking or they think they shouldn’t have gone home with someone.
“Some of them say they’ve saved for a year for the holiday or their parents paid for it and they feel like they’ve let them down."
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre's 24-hour helpline on 1 800 77 8888.
