One in four young Dublin women know someone who has been forced to have sex, according to a new study.
Almost one in five young women and a third of young men did not think that being forced to have sex constituted rape, the study commissioned by Women's Aid shows.
The research into experiences and responses to violence and abuse also found that 94 per cent of young men and 63 per cent of young women had seen pornography. Three out of four young men accessed pornography on the Internet, mainly on home computers or friends' computers.
Teenage Tolerance; The Hidden Lives of Young Irish People, published yesterday, recommends a public awareness campaign on violence and abuse against young people and a mainstream prevention education programme.
More than 300 young people aged between 14 and 19 in four Dublin schools and one senior college took part in the survey. The research, by Women's Aid and the Child and Women Abuse Studies Unit in London University, was conducted through questionnaires and focus groups. It was funded by the European Commission and the Department of Education and Science.
Of the one in four young women who said they knew someone who was forced to have sex, most said that person was a friend or peer.
The director of Women's Aid, Ms Denise Charlton, said the research findings were "not just alarming - they indicate how, as a society, we are failing our young people. With limited sex and life-skills education, and few support systems for young people, we are leaving young people to cope with these issues alone or with each other".
Ms Charlton said the lack of understanding of what constituted rape, consent and violence "raises serious concerns for these young people, from difficulty in naming their own experience, to ambivalence in relation to others' experiences and to difficulties in making judgments".
The report shows that both male and female teenagers are sexually active. It highlights ongoing double standards in this area, with sexual activity negatively affecting the reputation of young women while enhancing the reputation of young men.