The ISPCC has said there is a worrying trend of the early sexualisation, confusion and lack of information among children in Ireland over the past three years.
Publishing the number of calls it received to its Childline phone service, the society said there had been a marked increase in the number of calls from children concerning sexuality and sexual issues.
Last year the service received 4,279 (9 per cent) calls concerning sexual issues, 2,098 concerning sexual abuse, 1,968 on pregnancy, and 2,191 about physical abuse.
Childline's figures show 458,958 calls were received last year, representing an average of 1,250 calls per day. One in five of these calls are answered, resulting in conversations with volunteer or staff members.
