Sexual violence and sex education: The link

Last week, a study conducted by researchers at NUI Galway, in association with the Rape Crisis Network, found most Irish teenagers have drunk alcohol before sex, they often do not know how to negotiate consensual sex, and they feel a lack of confidence in reporting unwanted sexual experience.

The research also showed that some young people were too embarrassed to discuss using a condom with their partner.

Last year, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) and Cosc (the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence) conducted a survey among 2,750 third-level students. It asked about their experience of sexual violence and the research found that one in five women had had some form of unwanted sexual experience. Just 3 per cent reported it to the Garda.

The failings of sex education in Irish schools have had serious consequences, says Ellen O'Malley Dunlop, CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.

O’Malley-Dunlop points to a survey the centre conducted. “The survey found that some people did not realise that what happened to them was a crime,” she says. “I think this is partly a consequence of the RSE and SPHE programmes not being delivered in some schools.”