Sexual Violence Survey 2022 – Attitudes to Sexual Violence

Perception of sexual violence for those who have not experienced sexual violence or harassment

This chapter examines the perception of how common sexual violence is. It is solely based 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. Responding to these questions after sharing information on personal experiences of sexual violence or harassment could have been distressing. Further information is provided in the Background Notes. This data is based on replies from those aged 18 and over.

Data from the Sexual Violence Survey 2022 – Main Results shows that four in ten adults (40%) experienced sexual violence at least once in their lifetime. Close to three in ten adults experienced sexual violence as an adult (26%) and as a child (29%). Women experienced higher levels of sexual violence in their lifetime (52%) than men (28%). Similarly, women reported experiencing higher levels of sexual violence as an adult (39%) than men (12%) - over three times the rate.

The results in this chapter show high levels of societal awareness in Ireland around sexual violence. Almost nine in ten women and about seven in ten men reported that sexual violence against women is “common”. Fewer people reported that sexual violence against men is “common” – about five in ten women and three in ten men. Younger people were more likely to say that sexual violence against women or men is “common”.

Women were more likely to think sexual violence is common than men

Key findings for those who did not experience sexual violence in their lifetime or sexual harassment in the last 12 months by their perception of how common sexual violence is in Ireland:

• More women (86%) than men (72%) thought that sexual violence against women was common. Women (53%) were also more likely than men (31%) to think sexual violence against men was common. See Table 4.1.
• 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. See Figures 4.1 and 4.2.
• Over two in three men (67%) and two in five (44%) women reported that sexual violence against men was not common. Men (27%) were over twice as likely as women (13%) to think that sexual violence against women is not common.
• Younger people were more likely to think that sexual violence against men and women was common than other age groups. Over eight in ten (81%) young adults (those aged 18-24) compared with seven in ten (70%) of those aged 35-44 thought that sexual violence against women was common. Just under half (46%) of those aged 18-24 compared with just over a third (34%) of those aged 35-44 thought that sexual violence against men was common.
• Those aged 35-44 were most likely to think that sexual violence against men and women was not common than other age groups, with almost three in ten (29%) and over six in ten (63%) thinking that sexual violence was not common for women and men respectively.