Disclosure of sexual violence

The disclosure of sexual violence is the focus of this chapter. When we refer to disclosure to someone in the following text it refers to having told one person or many persons or an organisation/group. Further details on disclosure (for example, who was told, how long it took to disclose, reasons for disclosure, etc.) will be included in a future publication. See Background Notes for the detailed publication schedule. The statistics quoted in this chapter relate to those who reported experiencing sexual violence and do not relate to the overall population of adults in Ireland.

The data in this chapter is based on those who have experienced sexual violence at least once in their lifetime. It is based on replies from those aged 18 and over. Where the text refers to experiences as an adult, this refers to experiences that occurred after the age of 17 (the age of consent). References to experiences as a child refer to experiences that occurred from the earliest memories to the 17^th birthday. Where the text refers to sexual violence with a partner, this relates to experiences with both a partner or with an ex-partner. In this survey, a partner is defined as a person that they are/were married to, living with, a boyfriend/girlfriend or someone they are/were regularly dating.

Overall, women reported higher levels of disclosure than men. People aged 18 -24 and 25-34 had the highest level of disclosure rates (50%). There were higher rates of disclosure when the experience of sexual violence as an adult was with a non-partner compared with those who experienced it with a partner.

Almost one in two adults who experienced sexual violence in their lifetime told someone

Key findings for those who experienced and disclosed sexual violence in their lifetime:

• Almost one in two adults (47%) who experienced sexual violence in their lifetime told someone about at least one experience of sexual violence. See Figure 7.1 and Table 7.1.
• Women (53%) were more likely than men (34%) to have told someone about an experience of sexual violence in their lifetime. People aged 18-24 and 25-34 had the highest rate of disclosure at 50% compared with 41 % for those aged 65 and over. See Figure 7.2 and Table 7.1.
• Rates of disclosure for men ranged from 39% for those aged 45-54 to 28% for those aged 65 and over. However, for women, there was a clearer age effect where younger women were more likely to have disclosed than older women, with 62% of women aged 18-24 having disclosed to someone compared with 47% of those aged 65 and over. See Figure 7.2.

People who experienced sexual violence both as an adult and as a child were more likely to have disclosed than those who experienced it as an adult-only or as a child-only

Key findings for those who experienced and disclosed sexual violence by the stage in life when it occurred:

• People who experienced sexual violence both as an adult and as a child were more likely to have disclosed at least one experience (64%) than those who experienced it as an adult-only (37%) or as a child-only (35%). See Table 7.2.
• Almost seven in ten women (68%) who experienced sexual violence both as an adult and as a child had disclosed at least one experience to someone, compared with just under five in ten (49%) men who experienced sexual violence both as an adult and as a child. See Figure 7.3.
• For those who had experienced sexual violence as a child-only, women were around twice as likely to have disclosed (49%) than men (23%). However, for those who had experienced sexual violence as an adult-only, men were more likely to have disclosed (43%) than women (35%).
• Younger people aged 18-24 were more likely to have disclosed sexual violence experienced both as an adult and a child (73%) than those aged 65 and over (44%).

Those who had experienced sexual violence as an adult with a non-partner-only were over three times more likely to have disclosed than those who experienced sexual violence with a partner-only

• Those who experienced sexual violence as an adult with a non-partner-only were over three times more likely to have disclosed (55%) than those who experienced sexual violence with a partner-only (16%). See Table 7.3.
• Women were more likely to have disclosed a sexual violence experience with a non-partner-only (57%) than men (50%). If the sexual violence experience was with a partner-only, there were marginal differences in the disclosure rate between the sexes with women at 16% and men at 17%.
• Adults aged 25-34 who experienced sexual violence as an adult were most likely to have disclosed. Those aged 25-34 disclosed sexual violence experienced with a partner-only (22%) at a higher rate than those aged 45-54 (15%). Those aged 25-34 disclosed sexual violence experienced with a non-partner-only (66%) at a higher rate than those aged 55-64 (53%).

Almost one in four adults who experienced non-contact-only sexual violence had told someone

Key findings for those who experienced sexual violence as a child and disclosed by the type of the experience:

• Almost one in four (24%) adults who experienced non-contact-only sexual violence had told someone. See Table 7.4.
• Women were more than twice as likely to disclose non-contact-only sexual violence (34%) than men (13%).
• The disclosure rate for adults who experienced contact-only sexual violence was 41%, which was higher compared with the 24% for those who experienced non-contact-only sexual violence. Women who experienced contact-only sexual violence were more likely to have told someone (45%) compared with men (34%).
• Younger adults who experienced non-contact-only sexual violence as a child are less likely to have disclosed to someone (17%) than older age groups – 36% of those aged 55-64 did disclose about their experience of non-contact-only sexual violence.