One in four women have suffered sexual violence as an adult from a partner or ex-partner, a survey from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has found. The equivalent figure for adult men was 6 per cent.
The survey, which was carried out in December, found that 2 per cent of respondents had suffered sexual violence in the previous 12 months.
Data from the survey released on Thursday shows significant variations in experience across the population between men and women, different age groups, married and single people, people with or without disabilities, gay/bisexual people and straight people, between different ethnic groups, and between people with different levels of educational achievement.
Data released last month from the same survey showed that 40 per cent of respondents had reported experiencing sexual violence over the course of their lifetime (ie as a child, adolescent or adult), with the figure rising to 52 per cent for women (as against 28 per cent for men).
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The recent report focuses on sexual violence suffered when an adult (above the age of consent, which is 17 years). It is the second tranche of findings released from a survey requested by the Department of Justice to provide high-quality data on sexual violence.
For the purposes of the survey, sexual violence in relation to adults ranges from unwanted sexual touching to non-consensual sexual intercourse. There were 4,575 respondents to the questionnaire survey, of whom about 500, according to the CSO, had never disclosed their experiences with anyone before.
The survey found that one in four women experienced sexual violence as adults from a partner, as against 6 per cent for men. It also found that 29 per cent of women experienced sexual violence as adults from a non-partner, as against 9 per cent for men.
In all categories, the perpetrator was significantly more likely to be male than female. In the case of sexual violence from a partner, the perpetrator was male in 84 per cent of cases.
For sexual violence as an adult with a non-partner, the most prevalent location was a pub/club/disco for both men (30 per cent) and women (26 per cent).
Overall for both sexes reporting sexual violence as an adult from a non-partner, the survey found in respect of location: club/pub/disco (27 per cent); other person’s home (22 per cent); other (13 per cent); park/public place (12 per cent); own home (10 per cent); not stated (10 per cent); work (6 per cent); and school/college (3 per cent).
Bisexual and gay people reported higher levels of sexual violence as an adult (55 per cent and 40 per cent respectively) than straight people (25 per cent).
Those who were single were more likely to experience sexual violence as an adult (33 per cent) compared with married people (22 per cent), and people with a disability experienced sexual violence as an adult at a higher rate (30 per cent) than those without a disability (25 per cent).
Those aged 18-24 who experienced sexual violence as an adult reported the highest level of experiencing it in the past 12 months, at 30 per cent of this age group. This compared with 4 per cent of those aged 65 and over.
One of the more stark findings was that 34 per cent of adults with a third-level education reported experiencing sexual violence as an adult, compared with 6 per cent of those with only a primary level of education, or below.
However, the CSO data shows that third-level educational attainment is higher among younger age groups and among females, and that about 3 per cent of the population aged 24-64 has an educational level of primary school or below. The proportion is higher among older people.
The data on sexual violence as an adult from a partner in different ethnic categories was: white-Irish (16 per cent); white-Irish Traveller, Roma, other (19 per cent); black or black-Irish (10 per cent); Asian or Asian-Irish (7 per cent); and other/mixed background (5 per cent). The figure for black or black-Irish was based on a small number of respondents and, therefore, has a large margin of error.
Responding to the report, Clíona Saidléar, executive director with Rape Crisis Network Ireland, said it was already known that the vast majority of the perpetrators of sexual violence were male but the report added significant detail.
“Previous research had thrown up the troubling question about whether women who have higher education and professional roles are more likely to be targeted for sexual violence,” she said. This CSO data confirmed this phenomenon where 34 per cent of those with a third-level education reported experiencing sexual violence as an adult, she said.
“Could some of the targeting of this cohort be a way to punish and discipline women in particular who are seen to have stepped ‘out of line’ in some way? We only have to witness the sexual harassment and sexualised threats meted out to our female politicians to see this playing out.”
