EIGHT PER CENT of Irish women experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. The European average was 11 per cent.

That’s according to the first Europe wide study of domestic and sexual violence against women: ‘”Violence against women: an EU wide survey“.

It found that almost half (48 per cent) of Irish women who experienced sexual violence from a non partner did not go to the gardaí or any other service.

Two thirds of women said they didn’t go to the authorities because they would deal with it themselves or because the perpetrator was a friend or it was a family matter.

Rape Crisis Network Ireland is calling on the Irish government to protect all funding to front line services in light of these findings.

Europe’s largest ever study

The research was carried out by the European Agency for Fundamental Rights (EU FRA).

It was launched today by Safe Ireland, the EU FRA, the National Women’s Council of Ireland and Rape Crisis Network Ireland.

Director of Rape Crisis Network Ireland Fiona Neary said,

This survey confirms that sexual violence against women and girls is pervasive and pandemic across Europe.

Cuts

Since 2009 funding for rape crisis frontline services has been cut by 16.5 per cent with further cuts planned for 2014.

Fiona Neary said,

These cuts were to a sector that was already chronically under resourced and have been so unevenly distributed that in fact the centre with the lowest funding was cut by over 30%.

“At the same time secondary sources of funding, such as public donations and programme grants have also been severely reduced or stopped”.

Fear

Neary said:

Women named a very high level of fear of assault in our society, 28 per cent saying they feared assault in the past 12 months.

Over half of the women questioned (55 per cent) experienced sexual harassment in the workplace with one in three saying they were harassed by a boss, colleague or customer.

The survey was based on face-to-face interviews with 42,000 women, including 1,500 Irish women, aged between 18 and 74.

Read: One in three European women have experienced physical or sexual violence since the age of 15>

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