One of the Belfast Rape Crisis Centre's longest-serving staff has remortgaged her house to raise funds for the service.
Eileen Kelly, who has worked at the centre for 20 years, said the move was necessary as the British government has provided no funding for three years.
"We get 100 calls a week from people, mainly women, who are too terrified to report what has happened to them," Kelly said. "The centre has had no funding from the British government and these people have no one working on their behalf. Selling the house was a last resort."
Rape has increased by 50% in Northern Ireland since 2002, according to a documentary broadcast by the BBC last Wednesday which featured the work of Kelly and her colleagues