Back to Top

 Skip navigation

Victims of Violence

Victims of Violence

CSO statistical publication, , 11am

The CSO, through Ireland's Institute for SDGs (IIS), supports reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals.

SDG 16.1.1 Number of Victims of Intentional Homicide Per 100,000 Population, by Sex and Age

SDG 16.1.1 Number of victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population, by sex and age is published by CSO, Crime Statistics.

Recorded Crime - CSO

Crime statistics are published quarterly by the CSO in the Recorded Crime - Statistics Under Reservation reports, providing annualised totals for each quarter.

Please note that the statistics shown in this section are categorised as Under Reservation.  This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by the CSO. For further information please refer to Statistics Under Reservation FAQs

When considering crime trends, note there were various COVID-19 restrictions in place for most of 2020 and 2021, which will have possible impacts on crime levels.  The CSO COVID-19 Information Hub reports on the changing state of aspects of Ireland's economy and society since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Data for homicide offences from the CSO publication Recorded Crime Q2 2022 are summarised here.

Table 4.4 provides breakdown of the total number of homicide offences in the 12 months to June 2022 compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.

The number of homicide offences fell by 37.5% between 2021 and 2022, falling from 64 to 40. This was mainly driven by a fall of 17 (-53.1%) in dangerous driving leading to death incidents over this period. Murders decreased by 3, from 28 in 2021 to 25 in 2022. See Table 4.1.

25 Victims
There were 25 murder victims in 2022, a decrease from 28 in 2021.
4.1 - SDG 16.1.1 Recorded Crime Incidents Classified by Homicide Offences and Annualised Total

Crime and Justice - PxStat Database

The following tables have been downloaded from the CSO PxStat database.

The number of homicide victims fell from 84 in 2016 to 39 in 2021. It is possible that this large drop is related to the COVID-19 restrictions in Ireland during 2021. There was also a fall in the number of murder/manslaughter/infanticide victims, which decreased from 42 in 2016 to 24 in 2021. Deaths from dangerous driving fell from 42 in 2016 to 15 in 2021. See Table 4.2 and view Table CVA03 in PxStat.

4.2 - SDG 16.1.1 Recorded Crime Incidents Classified as Homicide by Sex

Of the 39 homicide victims in 2021, ten were aged 45-59 years while nine were aged 60 years and over and a further nine were aged 18 to 29 years. See Table 4.3 and view Table CVA04 in PxStat.

4.3 - SDG 16.1.1 Recorded Crime Incidents Classified as Homicide by Age Group

In 2021, the murder rate per 100,000 population was 0.46, a decrease from the rate of 0.62 in 2020.  This may have been related to COVID-19 restrictions. See Table 4.4 and view Table CJA08 in PxStat.

4.4 - SDG 16.1.1 Murder Incidents per 100,000 Population

SDG 16.1.2 Conflict-Related Deaths Per 100,000 Population, by Sex, Age and Cause

SDG 16.1.2 Conflict-related deaths per 100,000 population, by sex, age and cause - no data is available at national level.

UN SDG Information

The UN SDG Indicators Database provides the following information on SDG 16.1.2 metadata.

Target

The target for this indicator is Target 16.1 which is to:

“Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere”.

Definition

This indicator is defined as the total count of conflict-related deaths divided by the total population, expressed per 100,000 population.

‘Conflict’ is defined as ‘armed conflict’ in reference to a terminology enshrined in International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and applied to situations based on the assessment of the United Nations (UN) and other internationally mandated entities. 

‘Conflict-related deaths’ refers to direct and indirect deaths associated to armed conflict.

‘Population’ refers to total resident population in a given situation of armed conflict included in the indicator, in a given year. Population data are derived from annual estimates produced by the UN population division.

SDG 16.1.3 Proportion of Population Subjected to (a) Physical Violence, (b) Psychological Violence and (c) Sexual Violence in the Previous 12 Months

SDG 16.1.3 Proportion of population subjected to (a) physical violence, (b) psychological violence and (c) sexual violence in the previous 12 months is published by CSO, Crime Statistics.

Further information on gender based violence was published in Ireland's UN SDG 2019 - Report on Indicators for Goal 5 Gender Equality publication under SDG 5.2.1 and SDG 5.2.2.

Recorded Crime - CSO

Information here is extracted from the CSO's Recorded Crime Q2 2022 statistical report.

Please note that these statistics are categorised as Under Reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by the CSO.

SDG 16.1.3 (a) Physical Violence and SDG 16.1.3 (c) Sexual Violence

Table 4.5 provides breakdown of the total number of recorded crime incidents by offence type in the 12 months up to June 2022 compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.

The number of homicide offences fell by 37.5% between 2021 and 2022, falling from 64 to 40. There was an increase of 20.6% or 3,893 in the number of crimes classified as attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences compared to the previous 12 months. Kidnapping and related offences increased by 36.3% in the same period. 

Sexual offences increased by 5.6% in the 12 month period up to Q2 2022. There was 187 more incidents reported. Rape of a male or female increased by 24.0% whilst sexual offences involving menally impaired persons increased by 54.5%, from 11 to 17 incidents. See Table 4.5 and Figure 4.1.

It should be noted that the crime figures for some crime categories are likely to have been influenced by the public health restrictions that were imposed as a result of COVID-19.

4.5 - SDG 16.1.3 Recorded Crime Incidents Classified by Offence Group and Annualised Total

01 Homicide and Related Offences02 Sexual Offences03 Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assaults, Harassments and Related Offences05 Kidnapping and Related Offences06 Robbery, Extortion and Hijacking Offences 07 Burglary and Related Offences08 Theft and Related Offences09 Fraud, Deception and Related Offences10 Controlled Drug Offences11 Weapons and Explosives Offences12 Damage to Property and to the Environment13 Public Order and Other Social Code Offences
ICCSq Offence Group-37.55.620.636.313.29.122.643.1-26.8-11.27.79.9
VIctims of Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assaults, Harassments and Related Offences

Table 4.6 provides a breakdown of victims of attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences by gender and age group. Please note that the number of victims here may not match the number of incidents in previous tables as there can be incidents where no injured party is recorded.

The overall number of persons recorded as victims of attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences during Q2 2022 increased by 13.5% or 677 from the corresponding period in 2021. Male victims showed the highest rate of increase over the year at 19.7% compared with 6.1% for females.

Among males, there were increases across all age groups except those under 18 years. The highest rates of increase were among the 45-59 years age group (+35.9% or +175) and those aged 18-29 years (+26.8% or +186). The number of incidents recorded for those under 18 years of age fell by 2.7% or 14.

A somewhat similar pattern was recorded for female victims where again the number of incidents fell only for those aged under 18 years. However, it was those aged 30-44 years (+8.6% or +68) that showed the highest rate of increase, followed by those aged 45-59 years at 8.5% or 30. The number of incidents among those under 18 years fell by 10.4% or 35. See Table 4.6 and Figure 4.2.

4.6 - SDG 16.1.3 Recorded Crime Victims of Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assaults, Harassments and Related Offences (ICCSq Offence Group 03) by Age and Sex of Victim, Q2 2021 and 2022

All MalesMales Under 18 YearsMales 18 -29 YearsMales 30 -44 YearsMales 45 -59 YearsMales 60 Years or OverAll FemalesFemales Under 18 YearsFemales 18 -29 YearsFemales 30 -44 YearsFemales 45 -59 YearsFemales 60 Years or Over
ICCSq Offence Group 0319.7-2.726.820.235.910.76.1-10.47.48.68.529.9
Annual Trends in Recorded Crime Incidents 

Table 4.7 provides further breakdown by offence type of the total number of recorded crime incidents in the 12 months to June of each year from 2018-2022.

Homicide and related offences have declined each year since 2018 when there were 98 such offences recorded. In the year to Q2 2022, there were 40 recorded homicide offences which was almost two and a half times less than five years earlier. 

Sexual offences decreased from 2019 to 2020 (possibly related to COVID-19 restrictions) but have increased annually since then. There were 3,499 sexual offence incidents recorded in the 12 months up to June 2022. See Table 4.7.

4.7 - SDG 16.1.3 Recorded Crime Incidents Classified by Offence Group and Annualised Total

(c) Psychological Violence

Currently there is no recent national data on psychological violence. However readers can refer to information below that is of relevance to this indicator.

Relationship Between Victims and Reported Suspects for Sexual and Assault Offences, Q3 2021-Q3 2022 - CSO

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has recently published (15 Feb 2023) for the first time data on the nature of the relationship between the victim and reported suspect for Recorded Sexual and Assault Offences covering the period from Quarter 3 (Q3) 2021 to Q3 2022. Due to the relationship data being available from Q3 2021, based on development work by An Garda Síochána (AGS), the CSO is now able to report on the relationship between victims and reported suspects for these crimes. For the purpose of this publication, the AGS relationship classification ‘reported suspect not known to the victim’ is referred to as ‘stranger’. The main findings are as follows:

Sexual Offences

The reported suspect was known to the victim in just over eight in ten (83%) recorded Sexual offences between Q3 2021 and Q3 2022.

The results also show that just over a fifth (21%) of reported suspects for Sexual offences were a friend or acquaintance of the victim, while a further 17% were a stranger. Blood relatives accounted for 16% of reported suspects and a further 15% were partners or ex-partners.

Comparing male and female victims, the reported suspect for Sexual offences against males (13%) was more likely to be a person in authority or with care responsibilities than for females (2%).

In contrast, partners or ex-partners were the reported suspect for 18% of Sexual offences against females compared with just 1% for males. There were other differences too between males and females, for example, blood relatives were the reported suspects for 23% of offences against males compared with 14% of offences against females.

Looking at the age of the victim when the offence took place, blood relatives were also the reported suspect for nearly three in ten (29%) Sexual offences committed against persons who were aged under 18 years. Friends or acquaintances were the reported suspect for a fifth (20%) of offences against this age group.

Partners or ex-partners were the reported suspect for 40% of Sexual offences against persons aged 30-44 years when the offence occurred. This compared with 18% for victims in each of the age groups 18-29 years and those aged 45 years or more.

There were differences too in the length of time taken to report offences depending on the reported suspect. Nearly all (94%) Sexual offences were reported within a year of occurrence when the reported suspect was a stranger. This was also true where the reported suspect was a current partner or spouse (85%), colleague or work relationship (84%), or friend or acquaintance (76%). By contrast, when the reported suspect was a blood relative, just over three out of four (76%) offences were reported more than a year after the offence occurred.

Assault Offences

The reported suspect was known to the victim in three out of four (75%) Assault offences. A partner or ex-partner was the reported suspect for just over a fifth (22%) of such crimes, 14% were a friend or acquaintance, and 13% were a blood relative.

Comparing males and females, strangers were the reported suspects for 36% of assault crimes against males compared with 12% for those against females. By contrast, partners or ex-partners were the reported suspect for nearly four in ten (39%) assaults against females compared with 6% for males.

When the reported suspect was a partner or ex-partner, 87% of victims of assaults involved a female victim. However, when the reported suspect was a stranger, 76% of victims of assault were male.

Looking at the age of victims when the offence occurred, blood relatives were the reported suspects for three out of ten (30%) assaults against persons under 18 years.

In other age groups, blood relatives were the reported suspect for 17% of assaults against victims who were 45 years or over, 8% for those aged 18-29 years, and 7% for the 30-44-year age group. The results also show that the reported suspect was a stranger to the victim for just over one fifth (21%) of assaults against victims under 18 years.

When one looks at the time taken to report Assault offences, strangers were the reported suspect for 25% of those reported within a year and just 4% of those reported after a year.

By contrast, partners or ex-partners were the reported suspects for 51% of assaults reported after a year and 21% of those reported within a year of occurrence.”

Detailed information is available in the CSO report - Relationship Between Victims and Reported Suspects for Sexual and Assault Offences, Q3 2021-Q3 2022.

SDG 16.1.4 Proportion of Population that Feel Safe Walking Alone Around the Area They Live

SDG 16.1.4 Proportion of population that feel safe walking alone around the area they live is published in the CSO, Crime and Victimisation 2019 Report.  

Crime and Victimisation Report 2019 - CSO

Information here is extracted from the CSO's Crime and Victimisation 2019 report.

The Crime and Victimisation Survey is a household survey about crime in Ireland carried out by the CSO. Crime and Victimisation 2019 was part of the Health and Crime Survey, conducted via the CSO's General Household Survey (GHS) during Q2 and Q3 2019. Interviews took place during a six month interviewing period between April and October 2019. Previous Crime and Victimisation surveys have been carried out by the CSO in 1998, 2003, 2006, 2010 and 2015.

Respondents aged 18 years and over were asked to consider the period of 12 months prior to interview and to rate their response to a series of questions relating to the impact that crime has on their lives and their opinions on how effectively crime is dealt with in Ireland.

Respondents were then asked about their own personal experiences and the experiences of their household in terms of whether they had been the victim of different types of crime such as theft, assault or burglary in the 12 months prior to interview. Respondents who had experienced crime were asked additional questions, such as whether they had reported the crime to An Garda Síochána, reasons for not reporting if they didn't report, whether they felt the crime had been motivated by discrimination, and other contextual details relating to the crime.

The survey did not ask directly about sexual crimes as these are to be the focus of a comprehensive, dedicated national survey on sexual violence which is currently being developed by the CSO. However, it could be the case that victims of sexual assault may have reported on this as a physical assault in response to this survey.

Feeling Safe and Impact of Quality on Life

Respondents were asked how safe they felt walking in their local area at night in the 12 months prior to interview.

The Perception of Crime chapter reports that 75% of people aged 18 years and over said they felt “very safe” or “fairly safe”. This feeling of safety was considerably lower for females (64%) than for males (87%). More than twice as many males than females reported feeling “very safe” (60% compared to 29%). Feelings of safety increased with decreasing levels of deprivation (69% in very disadvantaged areas compared to 78% in very affluent areas). People in Dublin expressed the highest levels of feeling either “a little unsafe” or “very unsafe”, at 28% of persons aged 18 years and over, compared to 19% of persons aged 18 years and over in the Border and West regions. See Table 4.8, Figure 4.3 and Map 4.1.

4.8 - SDG 16.1.4 Proportion of Population That Feel Safe Walking Alone Around the Area They Live

Very SafeFairly SafeA Little UnsafeVery Unsafe
Male602794
Female29352214
First Quintile
- Very Disadvantaged
36331813
Second Quintile
- Disadvantaged
4630169
Third Quintile
- Average
4631159
Fourth Quintile
- Affluent
5127139
Fifth Quintile
- Very Affluent
4335165

SDG 16.2.1 Proportion of Children Aged 1-17 Years Who Experienced any Physical Punishment and/or Psychological Aggression by Caregivers in the Past Month

SDG 16.2.1 Proportion of children aged 1-17 years who experienced any physical punishment and/or psychological aggression by caregivers in the past month is published by Tusla.

TUSLA - Child and Family Agency

The Quarterly Service Performance and Activity Report provides an update on the performance and activity of Tusla services at the end of Q3 2022. It is structured around key performance and activity measures included in the agency’s business plan. The data presented was provided by services and refers to the latest performance and activity information available at this time. These data can change from data previously published due to the ongoing validation of data.

Referrals (Data for Q2 2022 Extracted from NCCIS on 21 October 2022)
  • 21,186 referrals to Child Protection and Welfare Services during Q2 20221; 1,293 (6%) more than Q1 2022 (19,893) and the highest number for all quarters Q1 2021 – Q2 2022.
  • This brings to 41,079 the number of referrals for the first six months of 2022, 6,247 (18%) more than the same period in 2021 (34,832).
  • The most common source of referrals in 2022 year to date (YTD) was members of An Garda Síochána accounting for 35% (14,461) of referrals, followed to a lesser extent by social workers (11%; 4,701) and teachers (11%; 4,336).  
  • 59% (12,493) of referrals for Q2 2022 were closed following screening; 35% (7,503) of referrals for Q2 2022 and progressed to the next stage of the referral process – the preliminary enquiry stage.
  • Of the referrals closed, 40% (4,970) were closed with no further action required, a further 41% (5,081) were closed as assessment / safety planning was already ongoing and 7% (871) were diverted to Tusla’s Prevention Partnership and Family Support (PPFS) services. The outcome was not recorded at the time the data was extracted for 8% (1,055) of referrals closed.
  • 89% (6,645) of preliminary enquiries for referrals received in Q2 2022 were closed at the time the data was extracted and of these 9% (619) were closed within 5 working days.
  • 46% (3,037) of referrals with a closed preliminary enquiry required no further action and were closed; 29% (1,926) required an initial assessment while assessment / safety planning was ongoing in 11% (728) of cases. Some 7% (439) of referrals were closed with diversion to PPFS.
  • At the time the data was extracted for reporting, 50% (967) of initial assessments required following a preliminary enquiry were closed, 19% (369) were ongoing/ awaiting sign-off while the remaining 31% (590) were awaiting commencement.
  • 32% (313) of initial assessments closed were closed within 40 days of receipt of referral.
  • 50% (483) of referrals that required an initial assessment following the preliminary enquiry were closed to social work following completion of the initial assessment. Of these 57% (275) required no further action, 24% (116) were diverted to another agency for a service, and 9% (43) were diverted to Tusla PPFS service.
  • A further 10% (49) were closed as safety planning was already ongoing.
  • 30% (286) of referrals required safety planning following completion of the initial assessment, a further 17% (160) required a children protection response/child protection conference and 3% (30) required admission to care.

1Please note that data on referrals is reported quarterly in arrears

Previous monthly and quarterly reports can be found on Tusla Performance and Activity Reporting Site.

More than half of referrals for 2022 YTD (55%; 22,497) were for welfare concerns, 36% (14,969) were for abuse/neglect, and the primary report type was not recorded for the remaining 9% (3,613) of referrals. See Table 4.9.

4.9 - SDG 16.2.1 Number and Percentage of Referrals by Primary Report Type

SDG 16.2.2 Number of Victims of Human Trafficking Per 100,000 Population, by Sex, Age and Form of Exploitation

SDG 16.2.2 Number of victims of human trafficking per 100,000 population, by sex, age and form of exploitation is published by the Department of Justice (DoJ).

The DoJ is responsible for the policy and administration of government anti-human trafficking objectives.

The Criminal Justice Policy function in the DoJ is the policy and administration unit that functions as the national coordination body for human trafficking. The key activities of the DoJ are outlined on their Human Trafficking website.

More information about the services available to victims of human trafficking is available on the Blue Blindfold website.

Trafficking in Human Beings in Ireland, Annual Report 2021

The DoJ published the thirteenth annual report on Trafficking in Human Beings in Ireland (2021). The report meets Ireland’s reporting obligations under Article 19 of the EU Human Trafficking Directive (2011/36/EU)1. The following information is extracted directly from the 2021 annual report.

What is Human Trafficking?

Human trafficking is a crime and a human rights violation. For a situation to be one of trafficking, three distinct elements (act, means, and purpose) must be fulfilled:

  • The ACT of recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons must be done by...
  • The MEANS, such as the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or the giving or receiving of payments, and it must be for...
  • The PURPOSE OF EXPLOITATION i.e. sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, forced begging, forced criminality or organ removal.

A child cannot consent to being trafficked, therefore the MEANS element does not apply to children. In the case of a child, the mere ACT of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or receiving a child for the PURPOSE of exploitation constitutes trafficking.

Similarly, exploitation of a child in and of itself, without the ‘Act’ element, while constituting another criminal offence, will rarely amount to human trafficking.

Why Does it Happen and Where Does it Happen?

Trafficking in human beings is a high profit–low risk crime based upon the principles of supply and demand. Criminal networks or individuals take advantage of a series of what are known as ‘push and pull’ factors, which explain why vulnerable individuals who lack opportunities and seek better living conditions in their own or a foreign country, end up being part of a human trafficking chain. This, in combination with the demand for cheap labour and sexual services, fuels human trafficking.

People can be trafficked into different types of work in agriculture, in the manufacturing sector and in the service industry. This can include restaurant and hotel work, domestic work, construction, agriculture and entertainment. They can be trafficked into prostitution, forced begging and forced criminality, sometimes in the form of cultivating or dealing in illegal drugs.

People Smuggling Vs Human Trafficking

It is important to note the distinction between people trafficking and people smuggling. The relevant distinction is that being trafficked is involuntary, whereas people smuggling involves the consent of the individual being smuggled.

What begins as smuggling may become a trafficking situation when a person who has been smuggled is then subjected to exploitation through force, coercion, deception, etc., during or after the smuggling event.

  • People smuggling involves migrants being facilitated with entry into a State through illegal means whereas trafficking must have the threat or use of force, coercion or deception against a (adult) victim.
  • People smuggling facilitates an individual’s illegal entry into the State whereas victims of trafficking can enter into the State both legally and illegally.
  • People smuggling must take place across international borders but there is no requirement that a person must have crossed a border for trafficking to take place - it can and does take place within national borders.
  • People smuggling, while often undertaken in dangerous or degrading conditions, involves migrants who have consented to the smuggling. Trafficking victims have either never consented or, if they initially consented, that consent has been rendered meaningless by the coercive, deceptive or abusive actions of the traffickers.
  • People smuggling ends with the arrival of the migrants at their destination; unlike trafficking it does not involve the ongoing exploitation of victims.
Extent of Human Trafficking in Ireland

Estimating the prevalence of trafficking is difficult due to the low numbers of identified victims each year, and the characteristics of human trafficking, including its clandestine nature and its overlap with other illegal activities. In addition, due to the relatively small number of victims in a given year, one-off incidents involving large numbers of victims can have a significant impact on the overall figures.

Therefore the statistical reports in this section provide a detailed analysis of the information that is available to authorities, rather than a precise account of the extent of the phenomenon in Ireland.

The 2021 annual report follows the approach to classification from the previous years in relation to victims of crimes prosecuted under section 3(2) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 (as amended by Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008). Based on international best practice, these victims are not counted as victims of trafficking.

Overview

In Ireland, there were 44 victims of human trafficking identified by An Garda Síochána in 2021. Of these, 25 people were victims of sexual exploitation and 19 were victims of labour exploitation. There were no victims identified trafficked for the purposes of forced criminality and there were no minor victims identified. This represents an increase of 6 identified victims from the 38 victims reported in respect of 2020. As was the case in previous years, in 2021 the majority of incidents of human-trafficking reported in Ireland relate to sexual exploitation. See Table 4.10.

44 Victims
There were 25 victims of sexual exploitation and 19 victims of labour exploitation identified by An Garda Siochana in 2021
4.10 - SDG 16.2.2 Trafficking by Exploitation Type

The tables that follow outline the number of victims that have been identified in Ireland over the last 5 years and the nature of the exploitation they have been subject to.

Victims by Year, Age and Gender

Table 4.11 shows the number of suspected victims of human trafficking identified by An Garda Síochána by year of detection, age and gender. There have been 263 victims detected over the last 5 years with 44 victims identified in 2021.

Over the last 5 years there has been a downward trend in the number of victims detected annually. However, given the relatively small numbers of victims detected in Ireland, one off incidents where a large number of victims are detected in one instance can influence any given year.

There was a shift in the gender breakdown of victims of human trafficking in Ireland from 2018 to 2021. In 2018, males accounted for 49% of victims and females accounted for 51% of victims. This drastically changed in 2019 where males accounted for only 6% of victims and females accounted for 94% of victims and in 2020 where males accounted for only 13% of victims and females accounted for 87% of victims. In 2021 males accounted for 36% of victims and females accounted for 64% of victims.

4.11 - SDG 16.2.2 Suspected Victims by Age and Gender

Victims by Year, Exploitation and Gender

The Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) (Amendment) Act 2013 came into effect in August 2013 and expanded the definition of human trafficking to include exploitation of a person for the purpose of forced begging and for forced participation in criminal activities for financial gain.

These specific categories of alleged exploitation were previously recorded as ‘uncategorised exploitation’ or ‘labour exploitation’. Table 4.12 illustrates the trend in exploitation type in Ireland.

4.12 - SDG 16.2.2 Victims by Exploitation and Gender

SDG 16.2.3 Proportion of Young Women and Men Aged 18‑29 Years who Experienced Sexual Violence by Age 18 Years

SDG 16.2.3 Proportion of young women and men aged 18‑29 years who experienced sexual violence by age 18 years is published by CSO, Crime Statistics and covered under SDG 16.1.3 above. 

Further information on gender based violence was published in Ireland's UN SDG 2019 - Report on Indicators for Goal 5 Gender Equality publication under SDG 5.2.1 and SDG 5.2.2.

New National Survey on the prevalence of Sexual Violence in Ireland

In January 2019 the CSO issued a Press Statement regarding a request by the Minister for Justice to develop and deliver a new national survey on the prevalence of sexual violence in Ireland.

The CSO's role is to support research and public policy by producing impartial and robust data reflecting Ireland’s economy, people and society. In December 2017, at the request of the Minister for Justice and Equality, the CSO took part in a scoping group whose role was to consider the availability of data in relation to sexual violence and make recommendations regarding future requirements. It became clear from the work of this group that there is a societal need for reliable data to assess the extent of the issue and to inform public policy with regard to prevention and response. The result was a consensus on the need for a comprehensive national survey on the prevalence of sexual violence in Ireland.

The CSO has now been charged with undertaking this work, the first stage of which will involve the CSO scoping a means of collecting this sensitive personal data in a manner which is confidential, ethical and designed to support accurate and reliable survey results. Protecting the privacy and supporting the needs of all involved must be a priority. Conducting this type of highly sensitive survey is a challenging departure for the CSO. In order for the data to be robust, very explicit questions regarding behaviours associated with sexual violence may have to b e asked of a number of respondents. As a result, the design and implementation of this survey will require specialist expertise and training. It will involve consultation with key stakeholders and consideration of best practice from international statistical organisations regarding appropriate collection methods as well as identification of the skills, training and structures that may be required to support data gathering in this sensitive area.

Given the complexity and sensitivity of the survey, it is envisaged that the entire process of scoping, planning, executing and reporting on the survey may take in the region of 5 years and exact timelines will only emerge as scoping progresses. The provision of reliable, robust, objective and internationally comparable information requires that the planning and execution of this survey is undertaken in a professional and comprehensive manner. To do otherwise may compromise the quality of the resulting data. Careful planning is also required to ensure that the data collection model also ensures the privacy and safety of the respondents and those collecting the data.

The CSO is committed to working with stakeholders both nationally and internationally to design a survey which can both satisfy stakeholder needs and protect and respect all those involved with the survey including respondents.