One in four women have suffered ‘sexual violence’ as an adult from a partner or ex-partner [1], a survey from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has found. The equivalent figure for adult men was 6 per cent. ‘Sexual violence’ is very broadly defined and includes everything from receiving unwanted sexual images to rape.
It also found big differences in reported sexual harassment, abuse and violence by social class, with 34 per cent of middle class women saying they have experienced one or more of these things compared with just 6 percent of working class women.
The survey, which was carried out in December, says that 2 per cent of respondents had suffered ‘sexual violence’ in the previous 12 months.
The survey also found that 29 per cent of women experienced ‘sexual violence’ as adults from a non-partner, as against 9 per cent for men.
For ‘sexual violence’ as an adult with a non-partner, the most prevalent location was a pub/club/disco for both men (30 per cent) and women (26 per cent).
Those aged 18-24 who experienced ‘sexual violence’ as an adult reported the highest level of experiencing it in the past 12 months, at 30 per cent of this age group. This compared with 4 per cent of those aged 65 and over.