Half of young adults experienced sexual harassment over past year
Muireann Duffy
Half of young adults aged 18 to 24 experienced sexual harassment at some point over the last year.
Among all adults, one in five experienced sexual harassment over that period, with women being more than twice as likely to have experienced sexual harassment than men, 28 per cent compared to 13 per cent.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed this trend was also evident regarding those who experienced inappropriate physical contact in the last year, with the figure for women being 15 per cent compared to 4 per cent among men.
The vast majority (87 per cent) of those who experienced sexual harassment over the examined period reported the perpetrator was male.
The research also found that 50 per cent of male victims did not disclose their experience.
Approximately 8 per cent of young adults said their sexual images or videos had been shared online without their permission.
The Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act, known as Coco's Law, was signed into law in December 2020, making it an offence to share, or threaten to share someone's intimate images without their consent.
Over the last 12 months, 3 per cent of adults said they experienced stalking with fear of sexual violence, 70 per cent of whom said they disclosed the matter.
The Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person (Amendment) (Stalking) Bill 2021 is currently being examined by the Dáil. The proposed amendment aims to create a specific offence of stalking, "characterised by repeated, unwanted behaviour that occurs as a result of fixation or obsession and causes alarm, distress or harm to the victim and to provide for related matters".
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
