65% of young women suffer sex abuse

Alarm at crisis centres' survey

- SEAN MURPHY

RAPE crisis counsellors have claimed that sexual violence is “endemic” in Ireland after new stats show 65 per cent of young women suffer abuse. 

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures yesterday also revealed that four-in-10 adults (40 per cent) “experienced sexual violence over their lifetime”.

The CSO reported a breakdown of 52 per cent of women and 28 per cent of men, with 65 per cent of women aged 18-24 suffering sexual violence.

The report – which is the first of its kind in 21 years – also showed that three-in-10 adults (30 per cent) experienced sexual violence as a child, while one-in-four (25 per cent) experienced sexual violence as an adult.

Separate bodies like Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) and the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) expressed shock and alarm at the figures.

A spokesperson for the RCNI said: “What is clear is that sexual violence is endemic and it is perpetrated throughout the whole lifecycle of people in a wide range of different environments.”