Sexual Violence In Ireland

By Ciara Barrett (Sexpress Editor)

Before you begin reading, please note that this article contains a content warning for sexual violence. There will be resources for anyone affected by these themes at the end of the article. Please look after yourselves.

In a study carried out by One In Four, a Dublin based charity providing support to victims of sexual assault, it was found that one fifth of adults in Ireland have reported instances of sexual assault, while 27% of children have experienced sexual assault and later reported it in adulthood. It was found that 35% of Irish adults have reported experiencing sexual assault within their lifetime. While these statistics are shocking on their own, they only account for reported instances of sexual assault, and do not take unreported events into account. Following a survey carried out in the UK in 2022, it was estimated that approximately 97% of women had experienced sexual assault or harassment within their lifetime, while 43% of men had similar experiences. 

There are numerous reasons attributed to why people don’t report sexual assault, and they tend to vary by gender. Women are less likely to report instances of assault due to their relationship with their abuser, while men may feel more shame and embarrassment about the incident. Sexual assault is least likely to be reported when the abuser is either a romantic partner, family member, or someone in a position of power over the victim, such as a boss or teacher. Sexual assault is most likely to be reported if the offender is a stranger to the victim. The Sexual Violence Centre Cork reported that a staggering 86.9% of victims who phoned the centre knew the offender, while  13.3% did not. Their report also stated that only 33.2% of assaults were also reported to An Garda Síochána, while 66.8% went unreported. A 2022 report by An Garda Síochána showed that there were 164 reported cases of sexual violence in Cork City in 2022. These numbers represent only a portion of calls made to the Sexual Violence Centre Cork that were also reported to the police. 

While there was only an increase of one incident of sexual violence reported to An Garda Síochána in Cork City in 2022, criminal convictions for sexual violence rose from 19 in 2021 to 38 in 2022. While this number is not high in relation to the amount of cases reported, the increase is a sign of hope and has been attributed to the introduction of An Garda Síochána’s Garda National Protective Services Bureau (GNPSB). The GNSPB was introduced in 2019 in order to provide assistance with investigations pertaining to domestic abuse, child abuse, sexual violence, human trafficking, sex offender management, and missing persons cases among other things. The Sexual Crime Management Unit was devised to provide sensitivity training to Gardaí, provide victims with the contact details of those investigating their attack, and to ensure that all investigation files are submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions. They also assist victims in accessing Sexual Assault Treatment Units for medical, forensic, and psychological help. It is also possible to contact the GNPSB for assistance in accessing these units without individual involvement from members of An Garda Síochána. 

In November of 2022, Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris launched a plan that aims to address sexual violence and harrassment on college campuses in Ireland. The Implementation Plan was created with the Higher Education Authority (HEA) following national surveys carried out in 2020 which showed that 12% of staff members in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) reported instances of sexual assault or harrassment, with 73% of these instances taking place on campus. 84% of reported offenders were fellow staff members, while 16% were students. Survey responses by male staff members showed higher numbers of incidents where the perpetrator was a student, 20% compared to 12% of female and non-binary staff members. Similar surveys provided by the HEA to students showed that 29% of students had faced instances of sexual coercion, and 50% of students had experienced sexual harassment via text or social media. 26% of students reported that instances of sexual harassment or violence were carried out by a staff member, while 54.6% reported incidents carried out by a fellow student. The findings of these surveys sparked the HEAs Implementation Plan, and €1.5 million was secured in the budget in order to introduce Sexual Violence and Harassment Response Managers in HEIs throughout Ireland. 

So if sexual violence is so prevalent throughout Ireland, why does it so often go unreported? As stated above, most unreported instances of sexual violence are carried out by people known by the victim. This often results in fear of losing a romantic partner or friend, or the risk of alienation or cover-up of assault by family members. Victims are also worried that they will not be believed, or that they will be blamed for the incident. The ‘she was asking for it’ rhetoric is one that has been often used in sexual assault trials in relation to clothing or intoxication. There are also instances in which the victim does not fully remember the assault taking place. This is becoming more common with increases in spiking and the use of date rape drugs, with reported drink spikings doubling in 2022 compared to 2021. All of these and more stem from rape culture, a social phenomenon that normalises sexual violence. Rape culture trivialises sexual assault in many ways such as promoting the ‘boys will be boys’ rhetoric. This is not only harmful to female victims who come forward, but also to those who have not suffered sexual violence at the hands of men. The idea that ‘boys will be boys’ invalidates the trauma that those not assaulted by men have experienced, and increases the feelings of embarrassment and shame felt by male victims who have been sexually harassed or assaulted by female offenders. Rape culture presents a binary status quo in which men are inherently dominant while women are inherently submissive, discouraging men and gender non-conforming people from coming forward about their experiences. Rape culture also results in the blame for sexual violence being placed on the victim as opposed to the offender. This creates the idea that it is the fault of the victim for putting themselves in a position to be a victim of sexual violence, rather than it being the fault of the offender.

There are many ways in which we can combat rape culture in our everyday lives. These include believing the victim, calling out those who make jokes about or trivialise sexual violence, holding offenders accountable for their actions, and promoting active consent in our daily lives. UCC offers a free Bystander Intervention programme to help people become more aware of passive and active sexual harassment, as well as helping people to recognise sexual assault and advocate for victims of sexual violence. This programme can be accessed at https://www.ucc.ie/en/bystander/. 

There are many resources for victims of sexual violence. The National 24 hour Rape Helpline can be contacted at 1800 77 8888 for confidential support services throughout the country. It is also possible to email at counselling@rcc.ie, and texts can be sent to 086-8238443 between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday. For those who would prefer to talk to someone in their native language, they also operate a Helpline Interpreting Service from 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. The full list of languages available can be found at https://www.drcc.ie/services/helpline/interpreting-service/.  The Sexual Violence Centre Cork who can be contacted via phone at 1800 496 496, or reached by text at 087 1533 393. Women’s Aid operates a 24 hour helpline at 1800 341 900, while the Men’s Aid 24 hour helpline can be reached at 01 554 3811. For anybody affected by the contents of this article, please contact The Samaritans on 116 123. For more services, you can access the UCCSU Welfare Directory from the SU Welfare Officer. Reaching out is incredibly important, please make sure you mind yourselves.