The survey is substantial and comprehensive: More than 4,500 randomly-selected people responded, with very high numbers completing the full questionnaire. These numbers give us statistics that represent the reality of our society as a whole.

All aspects of sexual violence, from rape to sexual non-contact digitally-enabled sexual violence are included.

Not one more survivor’s story is required to prove what these statistics now set down as our evidence base about sexual violence. Future research must build on these facts. These facts now must compel our action.

Much of the evidence is not new. Rather, these statistics and, importantly, who did the research, are about the things we have long known becoming formally and officially quantified and therefore to be acted upon. It is not news to us, broadly speaking, that 40% of the population have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime. But this fact is now coming not from NGOs like ourselves or from survivors speaking out in the media, but is embedded in our State’s official statistics cycle.

This is a formal declaration that no part of the crime of sexual violence will be considered private or outside or beneath the notice or responsibility of the State in the discharge of its duty and business.

However, there is detail here too that must shape how we act.

We are reminded that sexual violence is fundamentally about inequality and its reinforcement. The primary discrimination being reinforced is gender inequality. Gender and sex determine who perpetrators target, when and in what circumstances, with other characteristics intersecting. The overall prevalence rate of 40% translates to 52% of females and 28% of males who have been subjected to sexual violence. The sex variable remains the most important fact about sexual violence.

When we further look at the detail, we see a very significant difference in the experiences across age groups, with 65% of females between the ages of 18 to 24 being subjected to sexual violence already in their lifetime, compared with 35% of those aged 65 and over.

The CSO tells us that this does come with a caveat where we might expect younger people to have a greater awareness of sexual violence and consent along with clearer recall as the events are more recent to them.

Intersection of sexual and domestic violence

The second fundamental thing we are reminded is that sexual violence is a crime of opportunity and opportunity’s shadow, vulnerability. Context matters.

The most dangerous place for women is within a relationship and 64% of females who are subjected to sexual violence in their lifetime are abused by a partner or ex-partner. In addition, that context of intimate partnerships confers further vulnerability and opportunity. It very powerfully imposes silence on victims and its corollary, impunity on perpetrators.

For adults subjected to sexual violence by non-partners, the overall disclosure rate is 55%, however when the violence is perpetrated by a partner/ex-partner, the disclosure rate falls to 16%.

In short, you are the most likely to be abused in a relationship and you are unlikely to tell anyone or seek support.

New forms of sexual violence 

The third fundamental is that the expression and perpetuation of sexual violence is constantly evolving with new opportunities.

The CSO included questions about ‘sexual non-contact’. This allows for the capture and hopefully future-proofing of our measurement around the evolving forms of digitally-enabled sexual violence.

The CSO questions under ‘non-contact’ covers acts such as being coerced to undress or pose for photos or video, to look at pornography, to have someone physically expose themselves to you, or to experience someone masturbating in front of you, all of which are commonly, but not exclusively, digitally enabled.

For females aged 18 to 24 who experience sexual violence in childhood, 40% have such non-contact experiences, while that figure is no more than 26% for any other age category.

Males aged 18 to 24 who are subjected to sexual violence in childhood also experience higher levels of non-contact abuse than those older than them (28% compared with no more than 19% for any other age category).

Some of that age difference in experience will be accounted for by challenges in recalling of past events but the figure again reminds us that the opportunity for sexual violence has become an altogether new and transformed challenge amongst our younger generations as technology enables both our engagement with the world as well as perpetrators’ exploitation, domination, and abuse of the vulnerable.

Underreporting and culture 

The CSO states that even with the care in design and success of the survey, due to the nature of sexual violence, it expects that this survey still underreports the prevalence.

Some of that challenge is the recall of past events that were culturally stigmatised, denied, and minimised. Stigma used to be about an unequal set of expectations on girls and women compared to boys and men around their sexuality and bodies. These meant that survivors, even if they were not blamed for the perpetrator’s crimes (which was not always the case), were nevertheless made to understand that they were in some way tainted by their experience.

We have made some significant inroads in our culture to eliminate victim-blaming, however, we also have new and emerging stigma. This new stigma centres around being accused of being sexually unadventurous.

If our culture equates progressiveness with a distorted ‘liberalised’ attitude to sex, such that we risk our personal sexual boundaries becoming suspect and contested, how will we set and hold boundaries?

Dr Clíona Sáidléar, Executive Director, Rape Crisis Network Ireland

Originally published in the Irish Examiner