Support Is There, Whatever You Decide
If you are in immediate danger, call 999 or 112. The Rape Crisis Ireland 24-hour national helpline is 1800 778 888 — free, confidential, and for people of all genders. Sexual Assault Treatment Units (SATUs) provide medical care whether or not you report to Gardaí. Support is there whatever you decide to do — including deciding nothing today.
When assault happens at work, three separate legal worlds touch the same events — and nobody hands you the map. This page is that map, offered with two commitments: nothing here pressures you toward any route, and every route described remains yours to take, combine, or leave. People of every gender experience workplace sexual violence, and this page is written for all of them.
The Three Routes, Honestly Distinguished
- The criminal route: a Garda report, investigated by the State, prosecuted (if at all) by the DPP to the criminal standard — the route that can produce accountability in the deepest sense, and the one where the process is least within your control, because the case is the State’s;
- The employment route: your claims — harassment (which expressly includes physical conduct) under the Employment Equality Acts, the employer’s liability and safety duties, victimisation if reporting brought punishment — through the WRC, on short clocks: the harassment practice;
- The civil route: your own claim against the perpetrator (and in some circumstances others), decided on the balance of probabilities, independent of whether any criminal process happens or succeeds: civil claims explained.
They are parallel, not sequential: none requires another first, and none forecloses another. The honest planning point is the clocks — employment months, civil years, criminal none for serious offences — which is why early mapping matters even when decisions wait.
Time limits in these cases are short, strict, and depend on your exact circumstances — WRC complaints generally run on months, civil claims on years, and important extensions exist, particularly for survivors of abuse. Never assume you are out of time, and never assume you have time: take advice promptly. Nothing on this page is legal advice for your situation.
The Immediate File
Before any big decision, smaller protections deserve attention: your safety at work (separation from the person — and it is not you who should be moved), your income (no crisis resignation without advice; protected exits exist if leaving becomes right), and your record (notes with dates, messages preserved personally, medical attendance documented — a SATU provides care whether or not you ever report). A confidential first conversation covers exactly these: the immediate ground held steady, the routes mapped, and every decision left where it belongs — with you, at your pace.
Talk It Through, In Confidence, At Your Pace
One call maps all three routes and their clocks - with no obligation, no pressure, and nothing done without your instruction.
Call 01 5827148