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Sexual violence: low disclosure rates to the gardaí

Official figures show that only a small minority of people who experienced sexual violence, and later disclosed the experience to others, reported it to the police.

The figures are contained in a sexual-violence survey from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on the disclosure of experiences in 2022.

For adults who experienced sexual violence as an adult, the disclosure rate to the Garda Síochána was 5%, with similar rates for men and women.

The survey also shows that only 7% of adults who disclosed an experience of sexual violence did so to a medical or other support service.

Definitions

For those who experience sexual violence as a child, and told somebody of their experience, only 12% disclosed to gardaí. Just over 80% did not disclose to the police, with the rates similar for men and women.

The survey defines ‘sexual violence’ against an adult as a range of non-consensual experiences, from non-consensual sexual touching to non-consensual sexual intercourse. The definition for children also includes non-contact experiences.

Of the 93% of adults who did not disclose their experience as an adult to gardaí, the most frequently selected reason was that they thought that the experience was not serious enough, with almost 60% of adults citing this reason.

Almost one-third of adults did not disclose an experience of sexual violence as an adult to the Garda Síochána because they felt ashamed or embarrassed, with a quarter reporting that they thought the gardaí would not have been able to help.

‘Ashamed or embarrassed’

Those aged 55-64 who experienced sexual violence as an adult and disclosed to others, were more likely to disclose to the guards (11%) than those aged 25-34 (2%).

The CSO said that women who experienced sexual violence as an adult and disclosed to others, but not the Garda Síochána, were more likely to identify that they felt ashamed or embarrassed (34%), compared with men (22%).

Women were also more likely to identify that they did not go to the gardaí as they blamed themselves for what happened (26%), compared with men (17%).

Alcohol or drugs

One-quarter of adults who did not disclose an experience of sexual violence to the police indicated that they did not do so as they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs when it happened.

Those aged 35-44 who experienced sexual violence as a child, and disclosed to others, were more likely to tell the police (17%) than those aged 18-24 (7%).

Around one-fifth of adults, who experienced sexual violence as a child and disclosed to the police, indicated that they did so more than five years after they first experienced it.