A “disturbing” rise in sexual assaults of teenage girls by boys of similar age, with attacks becoming increasingly violent, has been reported by a Dublin service for victims of child abuse.

Referrals for peer-to-peer sexual abuse have increased by almost a third in four years at the Alders Unit in Dublin.

Most referrals were of adolescent girls abused by boys of similar age who were known to them, with reported abuses ranging from inappropriate contact to rape.

Another worrying development flagged by the Alders Unit is a marked escalation in the violence used.

The cause of the increase in teenage sexual violence against young women has been linked to the proliferation of violent adult pornography online and on social media, both here and internationally.