Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the publication of the recent results of the sexual violence survey by the CSO, following a Government request to that office to carry out this really important piece of work. The publication of this survey represents a new baseline, setting out the levels of sexual violence in Ireland. Additional detail will be published in the coming months around the prevalence of sexual violence in adulthood and childhood, attitudes to sexual violence, and the lived experience of those who suffered sexual violence, which will be of enormous benefit in the development of appropriate policy responses.

It is also important to note, as alluded to by my colleagues, that the CSO intends to conduct the survey again in ten years time. A key element in being able to understand and interpret the data is appreciating the range of experiences captured in the term "sexual violence". Sexual violence covers any sexual act which takes place without freely-given consent or where someone forces or manipulates another person into unwanted sexual activity. It covers experiences that can have a marked or powerful effect on those that experience them in their lifetime. This definition is based on national and international research including the Istanbul Convention, the EU survey on gender-based violence against women and other forms of interpersonal violence, the Luxembourg guidelines and relevant research from the United Nations, UN.

I join the Minister for Justice, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, in thanking everyone involved in this survey for taking part and helping to produce this very important piece of work. This survey required explicit questions to be asked of participants on very sensitive topics. For those who have not had experience of sexual violence in their lifetime, it may have generated unease while for those who have experienced sexual violence, it may have generated fear and distress. It is important to acknowledge the fact that so many people shared their personal experiences in this survey, which has resulted in this important body of work.

The true prevalence of sexual violence is difficult to identify but a survey may be a close proxy to the true prevalence level if it is collected in a way that reduces the risk of under-reporting, among other things. The CSO worked to minimise this risk principally by ensuring that the questionnaire met best international standards and by providing a confidential setting for the conduct of the survey so that respondents could safely and confidentially share their experiences of sexual violence at a time and location of their choosing.

While there is much information in the publication, some of the key points have already been outlined by the Minister for Justice, Deputy Harris. One thing that is very clear is that the incidence of sexual violence is very high. The survey also points to worrying experiences of sexual violence during childhood. It shows that one in five adults experienced unwanted contact sexual violence as a child and a similar number experienced unwanted non-contact sexual violence. The rate for unwanted contact sexual violence as a child was 25% for women compared with 15% for men. Child sexual violence was experienced by women and men across all age groups but young women aged between 18 and 24 reported the highest levels. For example, unwanted sexual intercourse as a child was reported by 10% of women aged between 18 and 24 compared with 2% of men in this age group.

Extensive consultation was a notable feature of the development of this survey, which was important to ensure that it was capturing the breadth of experiences in Ireland and that the resultant data met the needs of policy development. This survey could not have been achieved without the excellent work of the CSO, the support of the Department of Justice which provided funding for the survey, the range of stakeholders in the support service community and related agencies who all contributed on an ongoing basis to the development of the project and most importantly, the 4,500 respondents who completed this survey. I want to recognise the almost 500 respondents who acknowledged their own sexual violence experience for the first time. This is a testament to the sensitive and considered approach adopted by the CSO to all aspects of the survey.

The data represent a range of individual stories which speak to the lived experience of those who have and those who have not experienced sexual violence in Ireland. The suite of publications resulting from this survey will provide a lot of important detail and insight on a very serious and sensitive societal issue.

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