If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this survey, help is available from the following national helplines or from local/regional helplines which you can find in the Background Notes.
More women (86%) than men (72%) thought that sexual violence against women was common. Women were also more likely (53%) than men (31%) to think sexual violence against men was common.
Overall, 87% of adults disagreed with the statement "If a person who has been raped is not visibly upset by the experience, it probably was not rape". This compared with 2% of adults who agreed.
Almost a third of men (31%) were uncertain with the statement "Women often make up or exaggerate reports of rape" compared with a quarter of women (25%).
The majority of men (80%) and women (82%) agreed with the statement "Men may be too embarrassed to say they have been raped".
Those aged 65 and over were most likely to be uncertain with the statement "Men may be too embarrassed to say they have been raped" (23%), over twice the levels for those aged 18-24 (11%).
This publication is derived from the Sexual Violence Survey (SVS) which was conducted between May and December 2022. The objective of the survey was to provide high quality national prevalence data on sexual violence in Ireland which will act as a new baseline for the levels of sexual violence in Ireland.
For the data collection phase, the survey was known as the “Safety of the Person” survey in accordance with ethical guidelines to ensure a graduated introduction to the survey and to better ensure the personal safety of respondents who may be in an ongoing abusive relationship. To ensure that a wide range of respondents could engage with the survey, a range of data collection modes were used: secure web form, self-completion facilitated by an interviewer, and a paper form. Despite the sensitive nature of the survey, more than 4,500 respondents took part. An FAQ for the survey is available. In addition, where the word “reported” is used in this publication it means that the person told the CSO as part of this survey.
Sexual violence is defined in this survey as a range of non-consensual experiences, from non-contact experiences to non-consensual sexual intercourse. See Background Notes for further details.
Sexual harassment is defined in this survey as unwanted behaviours that a person may have experienced in their daily life, which made the person feel offended, humiliated or intimidated. This was limited to events experienced in the last 12 months. See Background Notes for further details.
Comparing the results of sensitive surveys like the SVS to other surveys or the results from other countries can be very challenging. Comparability between surveys on similar topics must take into consideration several factors, such as differences between definitions of variables over time and between countries, how the survey is introduced or collected, etc. For further information, see the Introduction to the publication and the Background Notes.
A presentation outlining the key points in the publication is available on the CSO website. Please visit the Publication Briefing page to view the recording and download the presentation slides.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (05 October 2023) released Sexual Violence Survey 2022 – Attitudes to Sexual Violence. This publication is the sixth in a series of six resulting from the Sexual Violence Survey (SVS) which was conducted by the CSO in 2022 (see Editor’s Note below for more details). It brings to a close the formal publication process for this survey. The previous publications were:
Commenting on the results, Helen McGrath, Statistician in the Social Analysis Section, said:
“Today’s publication is the sixth and final in a series of releases examining the prevalence of sexual violence in Ireland and provides analysis around attitudes to sexual violence in Ireland. This latest publication builds on the recent publication of the Sexual Violence Survey 2022 – Main Results.
Please note this information is based solely on replies from survey respondents who did not experience sexual violence (in their lifetime) or sexual harassment (in the last 12 months). This approach was chosen in line with ethical principles which aimed to reduce harm to respondents.
Sexual violence is defined in this survey as a range of non-consensual experiences, from non-contact experiences to non-consensual sexual intercourse. Sexual harassment is defined in this survey as unwanted behaviours that a person may have experienced in the last 12 months, which made the person feel offended, humiliated, or intimidated (for more on the definitions used in this publication see Editor’s Note below and the Background Notes).
Attitudes to Sexual Violence
As part of the survey a set of questions were asked where adults gave their level of agreement with a series of statements on sexual violence.
Overall, the majority of men (88%) and women (86%) disagreed with the statement “If a person who has been raped is not visibly upset by the experience, it probably was not rape”.
One in four women (25%) were uncertain with the statement "Women often make up or exaggerate reports of rape". This was lower than the level of uncertainty rate for men (31%). Age differences were evident, particularly on the levels of uncertainty with the statements. Older adults more likely to be uncertain with the statement "If a person who has been raped is not visibly upset by the experience, it probably was not rape” than younger age groups. Most men (80%) and women (82%) agreed with the statement "Men may be too embarrassed to say they have been raped". Those aged 65 and over were most likely to be uncertain with the statement "Men may be too embarrassed to say they have been raped" (23%), compared with 11% of those aged 18-24.
Perception of Sexual Violence in the Community
As part of the survey a set of questions were asked where adults gave their opinion on how common sexual violence against women and men is in Ireland.
Overall, almost eight in ten (77%) adults thought that sexual violence against women was common, compared with almost four in ten (39%) who thought that sexual violence against men was common. More women (86%) than men (72%) thought that sexual violence against women was common. Women were also more likely (53%) than men (31%) to think sexual violence against men was common.
Younger people were more likely to think that sexual violence against men and women was common than other age groups. More than eight in ten (81%) young adults (those aged 18-24) thought that sexual violence against women was common, compared with seven in ten (70%) of those aged 35-44. Just under half (46%) of those aged 18-24 thought that sexual violence against men was common, compared with just over a third (34%) of those aged 35-44.
Appreciation
The CSO would like to thank everyone who took part in this survey. We are extremely conscious that this survey was very sensitive. We are very appreciative of the trust respondents put in us in terms of our conduct of the survey and in how we will protect the confidentiality of their experiences. Each person who engaged with this survey has helped the CSO to present a clear picture of the prevalence of sexual violence and harassment in Ireland.
We would also like to thank the 500 or so respondents who indicated that they had not disclosed any of their sexual violence experience(s) to anyone, but these respondents did feel comfortable enough to share their experience with the CSO. We are grateful to those people for placing their trust in us, to all those who took part in the survey, and everyone who contributed to this project.”